Zach Muckleroy, 1979-2023

No matter where he went in Fort Worth or at TCU, Zach Muckleroy ’02 was everyone’s friend.

Considering his successful career in construction, service on various civic boards and committees and involvement at church, friends were never short in supply.

He knew so many, never forgetting a name, that he became affectionately known as “the mayor.”

“I don’t know anybody who didn’t like him,” former TCU Football coach Gary Patterson said.

Lauren Muckleroy is recovering in Austin from the car accident that claimed husband Zach and children Judson and Lindsay. Facebook photo

Friends and loved ones are in mourning after Muckleroy, 44, was killed Nov. 22 along with his 12-year-old son, Judson, and 9-year-old daughter, Lindsay, in a head-on collision in Central Texas.

Lauren Muckleroy, his wife, survived the three-car accident on U.S. Highway 281 near Johnson City and was airlifted to an Austin hospital, where she underwent multiple surgeries. Initially in critical condition after the wreck in which a truck veered into oncoming traffic, she is now expected to be released from the hospital by Dec. 1.

While improving physically, Lauren Muckleroy is now coping with the realization that her husband and children are gone.

“There’s a lot of tears,” said Rev. Russ Peterman ’90, senior minister at University Christian Church and a family friend. “But she’s processing. She’s fully aware.”

Zachary Dean Muckleroy was a third-generation TCU graduate, following his maternal grandparents, John ’51 and Ellen Saunders ’50, and parents Harold ’74 and Pat Muckleroy ’74. Dad was a defensive back for the Frogs football team from 1971-72.

Zach, who graduated from Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth, played for the Frogs as a wide receiver on the 1998 team that won the Sun Bowl in former coach Dennis Franchione’s first season, when Patterson was the defensive coordinator. 

Landry Burdine ’99 was a senior safety on that team and often faced off with Muckleroy in practices.

“He was up for anything,” said Burdine, an analyst on TCU football radio broadcasts. “He was a great locker room guy. He wasn’t a big rah-rah guy, but he always showed up, went to work and had a smile on his face. The guys liked having him around.”

Harold Muckleroy, who was on the search committee that recommended Franchione as coach and helped convince the Sun Bowl to take TCU, wrote in the Spring 1999 TCU Magazine issue about being with his son on the field after the Frogs’ 28-19 victory over Southern Cal.

“After the awards ceremony and presentation of the Sun Bowl trophy we were allowed on the field. I immediately found Zach,” Harold Muckleroy wrote. “We hugged for a long time, father and son, two proud Horned Frogs.”

Zach eventually went into the family business, joining his father at the Fort Worth-based commercial construction company Muckleroy & Falls. Max Falls ’76 said that the younger Muckleroy came on board in 2009, was named a partner in 2013 and became CEO in 2020 when he and business partner Taylor Hale bought the company as the two founders transitioned into retirement.

Zach Muckleroy helped the business grow while creating a culture that earned the company recognition as one of the best places to work in Fort Worth, Falls said.

The selfless qualities Muckleroy brought to the office were the same ones that guided everything else he did.

“The phrase ‘salt of the earth’ gets tossed around probably more often than it should, but that’s a pretty apt description,” Peterman said. “He had an ability to walk into a room and light up the room, and people were just drawn to him. And yet, he was so humble and generous. He was just a man of integrity, of faith, of kindness. He was like very few others I’ve ever met.”

Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker requested that Future City Hall be lit in purple Nov. 28 to honor the Muckleroy family. Courtesy of Brian Luenser

Falls knew Muckleroy his entire life and saw the impact he and his family had on the community. Falls compared them to pebbles thrown into a pond and the waves those pebbles create.

“I look on Zach’s life and the Muckleroys’ lives as they’ve had this great ripple effect,” said Falls, who played tennis at TCU. “They’ve touched so many lives, and they’ve impacted so many lives in this community. It’s sort of incalculable.”

Muckleroy served TCU as vice president of the National Alumni Board, director of the Premier Frogs segment of the Fort Worth Alumni Board and as a board member for the Frog Club. He was also a huge fan of all TCU sports and a member of the Flying T Club, the university’s Name, Image and Likeness collective.

“He was born purple, but he bled it himself,” Burdine said. “He was bought in.”

Muckleroy was involved with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, helping spur economic development, and “the mayor” was friends with the actual mayor, Mattie Parker. On Nov. 28, she ordered the future home of City Hall to be lit in purple to honor the family, sharing that “Zach was a giant in the Fort Worth community.”Muckleroy also served as chair of the elders at University Christian Church and was an integral driver in a planned $12 million renovation.

He juggled all of that while being a devoted husband and father.

“We all have the same 24 hours in a day, but Zach seemed to be able to maximize that,” Falls said.

In addition to his wife and parents, Muckleroy is survived by sister Alyson Muckleroy and brother-in-law Steve Gasper, brother David Muckleroy ’10 and sister-in-law Madison Muckleroy ’09, father-in-law David Johnson, mother-in-law Debbie Conrad Johnson, sister-in-law Melanie Johnson Dow and brother-in-law Jim Dow, sister-in-law Christina Westfall and brother-in-law Jay Ellwanger, brother-in-law Stephen Westfall and sister-in-law Lindsey Westfall, brother-in-law Jon David Johnson and sister-in-law Heather Bush Johnson, brother-in-law Jeff Johnson and 16 nieces and nephews.

As family members grieve, they are aware of the outpouring of support, which includes people in the community tying purple ribbons to trees in honor of Zach, Judson and Lindsay Muckleroy.

Peterman urged people to keep Lauren Muckleroy top of mind. “Pray for her. Send her love and light. … Where she’s going to need the community is in the weeks and months and years ahead.”

The TCU family is ready to wrap its arms around the survivors amid an unimaginable loss.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Muckleroy family,” said Jeremiah Donati, director of intercollegiate athletics at TCU. “They are not just a huge part of TCU but Fort Worth as well. They had such a positive impact on everyone they knew and are deeply missed. We are here to support Lauren in any manner possible. The Muckleroys are forever TCU.” 

Sundance Square in Fort Worth was lit in purple Nov. 28 in remembrance of Zach, Judson and Lindsay Muckleroy. Courtesy of Brian Luenser