The Proeger Family · Generation 2 — Kristin's parents

Thomas Alan Caffey

Kristin's father · 1946–2016

Portrait of Thomas Alan Caffey, Cactus yearbook, University of Texas, 1966
Open full page

Thomas Alan Caffey

TexasConfirmed

Kristin's father · 1946–2016

Photograph — Cactus, University of Texas at Austin, 1966, page 292 S63. A crop of the Delta Tau Delta member panel, a page whose own caption prints "Thomas Alan Caffey" among exactly seven names keyed to exactly seven portraits in the second photo row. A second portrait of him, from the Class of 1968 grid on page 635 of the same volume, is in the documents below. Confirmed

Born
7 March 1946, Austin, Travis County, Texas
Died
30 December 2016, Austin
Parents
Thomas Walton Caffey Jr. & Lucille Lorine Kretschmar
Children
Bradley Neal Caffey, Kristin
Sources
15
Images
11

Life in the order the records give it

Birth1946
Born 7 March 1946, Austin, Travis County, Texas; died 30 December 2016, Austin, aged 70. A lifelong Austin resident S31S34
Schooling1969
McCallum High School; B.S. Electrical Engineering, The University of Texas, 1969 S31
the Cactus lists him with the Class of 1968 S63, and both are true: the yearbook records the class he entered with, the obituary the year the degree actually came. Career at DuPont Chemical in Nashville, then Texas Instruments in Austin S31
Schooling1961
🆕 A sophomore at McCallum High School in 1961–62, “Tommy Caffey” in the 1962 yearbook S396; added 24 September 2026.
Census1962
🆕 In 1962–63, his junior year at McCallum, he was junior-class president, vice-president of the spring Student Council, on the all-A honor roll four times, and Junior Class Favorite S492. As a varsity halfback he kicked the extra point that beat Killeen, 13–12 S491. added 25 September 2026.
Schooling1964
🆕 As a sophomore he was in the McCallum Football Club S534, and the 1964 yearbook has his senior portrait S535. added 25 September 2026.
Death
His obituary names the couple outright: "his daughter Kristin Proeger and her husband Earl of Austin" S31. That sentence welds this record's two halves together from the published side
the link is not an inference from a surname.
This card replaced four sentences of family testimony. Until 13 September 2026 he was on this page as "Thomas Caffey," with no dates, no parents and a Family testimony tag — everything the family had said and nothing more. Every line above now rests on a retrieved document, and every detail the family originally gave checks out against them: raised in Austin ✓, University of Texas ✓, died at Austin ✓, wife Lavonne ✓, daughter Kristin ✓.
⚠️ One theoretical gap, stated for completeness. No single government document names both his parents — his own Texas death certificate would, but Texas records after 2000 are not in any free index and the public Social Security extracts end long before 2016 S33. The census sheet, his obituary and his sister's obituary name them instead, three times over, which is why this is Confirmed without it.

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Parents1946
His father's middle name is Walton, not William
the Texas Birth Index on his own 1946 birth record reads Thomas Walton Caffey S130, and so does the Austin Memorial Park gravestone S34. An index and a stone, neither derived from the other. Earl's online Ancestry tree records "William" and is wrong on this point; this page has read Walton throughout and continues to.
Parents1950
Son of Thomas Walton Caffey Jr. and Lucille Lorine Kretschmar
the 1950 census enumerates him as "son," aged 4, in their Austin household S32, and his obituary says he was born "to Lucille and Thomas Caffey" S31
Marriage1969
Married Clare LaVonne Walker on 7 June 1969, Tarrant County, Texas S127; the marriage was dissolved 3 October 1980 in Travis County S128. The state file numbers are withheld. ⚠️ One index disagrees on the wedding day. The Newspapers.com Marriage Index reads 14 June 1969; the Texas Marriage Index and the Divorce Index both read 7 June. That newspaper collection is machine-extracted
Ancestry itself stamps it as AI-derived and possibly erroneous — so this page takes 7 June, two state indexes against one derived one, and records the disagreement rather than hiding it S127
Children1972
Two children: Bradley Neal Caffey (b. 1972) and Kristin (b. 1975), both named to this couple by the Texas Birth Index S126
Siblings1948
His sisters: Sandra Caffey Falkenberg (28 July 1948 – 4 April 2025) and Donna Caffey Rinn, who is living and whose details are withheld S31S35

Photos & documents 6 photos · 5 documents

Photos (6)
Ancestry member media — shared on Ancestry by Powercat46 — page e17b9c4c
Ancestry member media — shared on Ancestry by Powercat46 — page e17b9c4c · p. e17b9c4c Probable Download · AI-restored colour version · → card
Restored and colorized (AI-assisted); faces are the original photo, colours are a best guess. Thomas Alan Caffey, portrait in later life.
Restored and colorized (AI-assisted); faces are the original photo, colours are a best guess. Thomas Alan Caffey, portrait in later life. AI restoration of the original photo Download · Original photo · → card
Cactus Yearbook, University of Texas at Austin, 1966 - portrait crop from page 292 — page 292
Cactus Yearbook, University of Texas at Austin, 1966 - portrait crop from page 292 — page 292 1966 · p. 292 Confirmed Download · Source ↗ · AI-restored colour version · → card
Restored and colorized (AI-assisted); faces are the original photo, colours are a best guess. Thomas Alan Caffey — portrait crop from Cactus 1966, page 292.
Restored and colorized (AI-assisted); faces are the original photo, colours are a best guess. Thomas Alan Caffey — portrait crop from Cactus 1966, page 292. 1966 AI restoration of the original photo Download · Original photo · → card
Cactus Yearbook, University of Texas at Austin, 1966 - portrait crop from page 635 — page 635
Cactus Yearbook, University of Texas at Austin, 1966 - portrait crop from page 635 — page 635 1966 · p. 635 Confirmed Download · Source ↗ · AI-restored colour version · → card
Restored and colorized (AI-assisted); faces are the original photo, colours are a best guess. Thomas Alan Caffey — portrait crop from Cactus 1966, page 635.
Restored and colorized (AI-assisted); faces are the original photo, colours are a best guess. Thomas Alan Caffey — portrait crop from Cactus 1966, page 635. 1966 AI restoration of the original photo Download · Original photo · → card
Documents (5)

Documents · 5 page images all documents

Retrieved from the UNT Libraries' Portal to Texas History, or — for the University of Texas Cactus yearbooks — from Texas ScholarWorks. Each thumbnail opens the full page scan, which can also be downloaded. The quoted text is the OCR that ships with the scan, copied verbatim; the page image is the authority.

Page 292 of Cactus Yearbook, University of Texas at Austin, 1966

Cactus Yearbook, University of Texas at Austin, 1966 — page 292

Yearbook · 1966 · page 292 of 752

Second Row: William Reagan Bird· well, Willia m Earl Blood, Nathan Ray Brandon, William Dan Burleson, Thomas Alan Caffey, Robert Auburn Casey, Jr., James Winston Chapman, Jr.

Confirmed because full given name "Thomas Alan Caffey" printed in the Delta Tau Delta member-panel caption at the University of Texas at Austin, and the same volume's Class of 1968 roll (page 635) gives his home town as Austin — name, school, town and era all match the documented record; the only other Caffey in this volume is Brenda Gay Caffey, and the adjacent "Caffee, John J. Lee" of Bakersfield, Calif. is a different surname. Corroborating names on the same page, as the OCR spells them: Delta Tau Delta; Gamma Iota chapter; 2801 San Jacinto; University of Texas.

View full page Download image Original at Texas ScholarWorks ↗

Page 635 of Cactus Yearbook, University of Texas at Austin, 1966

Cactus Yearbook, University of Texas at Austin, 1966 — page 635

Yearbook · 1966 · page 635 of 752

CLASS OF 1968 … Busby, Russell Clyde, San Antonio Byrd, Judith Kathryn, Austin Byrne, Clifford Davis, Arlington Cade, William Henry, San Antonio Caffee, J ohn ]. Lee, Bakersfi eld, Calif. Caffey, Thomas Alan, Austin Callaway, Sharon Ela ine, Longv iew Calvert, Eliza beth Arrington, Dallas Cameron, Kathy, Katy Camp, William R., Jr., Mexico City, Mex.

Confirmed because the Class of 1968 roll prints "Caffey, Thomas Alan, Austin" — full given name, University of Texas at Austin, and the home town Austin, matching his birth and death place; the same volume shows him in the Delta Tau Delta panel on page 292 and the 1969 volume pledges him to the electrical-engineering honorary Eta Kappa Nu. Corroborating names on the same page, as the OCR spells them: Austin; CLASS OF 1968; University of Texas.

View full page Download image Original at Texas ScholarWorks ↗

Page 412 of Cactus Yearbook, University of Texas at Austin, 1969

Cactus Yearbook, University of Texas at Austin, 1969 — page 412

Yearbook · 1969 · page 412 of 752

FALL PLEDGES Thomas Alan Caffey Kim W. Cox Joseph Biedenharn Dennis Jimmie Darius Edrington William Robert McCown David William McElroy Alton Ray Miihlhouse Kenneth Allan Moore Robert Thomas Olson Anthony Lee Rivoli Henry Grady Rylander, 111 Michael Edward Spak Robert Eugene Stovall Fredd ie Ray Wilson

Confirmed because full given name "Thomas Alan Caffey" on a University of Texas at Austin page, listed as a fall pledge of Eta Kappa Nu, the national electrical-engineering honorary association (Texas Psi chapter) — school, field of study and year all match the documented record of UT electrical engineering, class of 1969; every other Caffey in this volume (David Luther Caffey of Abilene, Howard David Caffey) is indexed to different pages and different activities. Corroborating names on the same page, as the OCR spells them: Eta Kappa Nu; electrical engineering; Department of Electrical Engineering; University of Texas.

View full page Download image Original at Texas ScholarWorks ↗

Quoted text is the OCR that ships with the scanned volume, copied verbatim. OCR of 1960s yearbook type breaks words at hyphenation points — "Birdwell" appears as "Bird· well" and "Burleson" as "Burle-son". The page image is authoritative and should be read before treating any wording as exact.

Quoted text is the OCR that ships with the scanned volume, copied verbatim. OCR of 1960s yearbook type splits words and mangles initials — "John J. Lee" reads as "J ohn ]. Lee" and "Bakersfield" as "Bakersfi eld". The page image is authoritative and should be read before treating any wording as exact.

Quoted text is the OCR that ships with the scanned volume, copied verbatim. OCR of 1960s yearbook type mis-reads letters and Roman numerals — "Rylander, III" is read as "Rylander, 111" and "Freddie" breaks as "Fredd ie". The page image is authoritative and should be read before treating any wording as exact.

In the record Generation 2 — Kristin's parents

Thomas Alan Caffey · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

15 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

  1. S31Obituary, Thomas Alan Caffey, Austin American-Statesman, published 8–14 January 2017; Legacy.com id 17338018. Names his parents ("born on March 7th, 1946, to Lucille and Thomas Caffey"), his sisters, and — decisively for this record — "his daughter Kristin Proeger and her husband Earl of Austin." Retrieved in a browser; a plain fetch is blocked. Its guest book also carries a family friend's "T.W. and Lucille," which is corroboration, not kinship: no record makes that family related.
  2. S321950 US Census, Austin, Travis County, Texas, ED 256-3, lines 8–11, house no. 605 — Caffey, Thomas W (head, 26); Lucille L (wife, 24); Thomas A (son, 4); Sandra M (daughter, 1). Read off the page image, not the OCR index. The record that fixes Kristin's paternal grandparents. ⚠️ Austin's enumeration districts are filed under county="Austin, Travis", so a county=Travis query misses them entirely — sweep the state.
  3. S33US Social Security NUMIDENT / Death Master File / VA-BIRLS, and the Texas Marriage and Divorce indexes — Caffey entries, republished verbatim at SortedByName.com. Government records. Supplies T.W. Caffey Jr's birth at "Salado Bell, Texas" and his parents Thomas W Caffey and Medie Stobaugh; Lucille's birth at "Austin Travi, Texas" and her parents Will Kretschmar and Liessi Ladusch; his Marine Corps service 1941–45; the shared Wimberley retirement ZIP; and the 1969 Caffey–Walker marriage and its 1980 dissolution. The Caffey pages 403'd on a second attempt the same day.
  4. S34FindAGrave memorials, Caffey / Kretschmar / Ladusch — Thomas Alan Caffey 274110930, Thomas Walton Caffey Jr 39163436, Lucille Lorene Kretschmar Caffey 39163435, Thomas Walton Caffey Sr 62147776, Medie Caffey Stobaugh 62147759, Willie Frank Kretschmar 41405071, Hattie "Liessi" Ladusch Kretschmar 41405070. Grave inscriptions, plot numbers and dates are transcriptions of stones. Family links on FindAGrave are contributor-asserted, not records — they corroborate here and are never the basis. Memorial 62147776 additionally quotes Texas death certificate #16496, which is a record.
  5. S35Obituary, Sandra Caffey Falkenberg (died 4 April 2025, aged 76), Porter Loring Mortuary / Dignity Memorial, San Antonio. An entirely independent document, written nine years after her brother's by a different funeral home in a different city, naming the same parents — "the daughter of T.W. and Lucille Caffey" — and the same three siblings. Retrieved in a browser; a plain fetch is blocked.
  6. S63Cactus Yearbook, University of Texas at Austin, 1966 — pp. 292 and 635. Page 292 is the Delta Tau Delta member panel, whose caption prints "Thomas Alan Caffey" among exactly seven names keyed to seven portraits in the second photo row; page 635 is the Class of 1968 grid, whose roster prints "Caffey, Thomas Alan, Austin" and whose last row keys six names to six portraits in a matching male/female sequence. Digitised in Texas ScholarWorks. The source of the portrait on his card, and of a second portrait of the same man in the documents grid below. Both are crops; both link to the full published page.
  7. S126Bradley Neal Caffey — Texas birth index, 23 February 1972, Travis County. Texas, U.S., Birth Index, 1903–1997, Ancestry collection 8781, record 11286050, index image TXBTH_1972_000216a. Read 21 September 2026. Father Thomas Alan Caffey; mother Clare LaVonne Walker. The record that makes him Kristin's full brother rather than a surname match. A state birth index naming both parents, and they are the same two parents the same index gives for Kristin in 1975 (image TXBTH_1975_000216e). Corroborated independently by the 2022 Walker obituary [S36], which lists Brad and Kristin in one sentence as grandchildren of the same woman. ⚠ No evidence of a third child. Across the whole Caffey hint cluster and the full obituary, only these two appear as children of this couple — that is absence of evidence from two sources that each had reason to name everyone, and is graded Probable, not Confirmed.
  8. S127Thomas Alan Caffey and Clare LaVonne Walker — marriage, 7 June 1969, Tarrant County, Texas. Texas, U.S., Marriage Index, 1824–2014, Ancestry collection 8795, record 3165434. Read 21 September 2026; the same date is carried forward on the 1980 divorce record [S128]. ⚠ One conflict, resolved against the newspaper. The Newspapers.com Marriage Index (record 102623378) dates this marriage 14 June 1969. That collection is machine-extracted — Ancestry's own header states it was "found using artificial intelligence technology and may contain errors" — and it is one derived index against two state indexes that agree on 7 June. This page takes 7 June 1969. The likeliest explanation is mundane: the newspaper item ran the week after the ceremony and the extractor took the publication date for the event date.
  9. S128Caffey–Walker divorce, 3 October 1980, Travis County, Texas. Texas, U.S., Divorce Index, 1968–2017, Ancestry collection 8794, record 1980076447. Read 21 September 2026. A state record. It fixes to the day what this page previously carried as the bare year 1980 [S33]. Clare LaVonne Walker is living, and this page publishes living adults in full under Earl's rule of 21 September 2026. A divorce is the kind of fact a living person might not want published, so it is recorded here that this one is on the page deliberately and with his authority, not by oversight. The state file number is not published.
  10. S130Thomas Alan Caffey — Texas birth index, 7 March 1946, Travis County, naming his father as Thomas Walton Caffey. Texas, U.S., Birth Index, 1903–1997, Ancestry collection 8781. Read 21 September 2026. Father Thomas Walton Caffey; mother Lucille Lorine Kretschmar. A correction aimed at the Ancestry tree, not at this page. Earl's online tree records the father's middle name as William. The state birth index says Walton, and so does the Austin Memorial Park gravestone already held in this corpus [S34] — an index and a stone, independent of each other. This page has read Walton throughout and continues to; the discrepancy is recorded here so that the tree can be corrected against it.
  11. S396McCallum High School yearbook, Austin, Texas, 1962, p. 212. Ancestry record 567667132. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed Sophomores: “Tommy Caffey”, middle row, left portrait. The school and year are from Ancestry's index; no masthead on the page. His obituary (S31) names McCallum High School.
  12. S491U.S., School Yearbooks — McCallum High School, Austin, 1963, p. 109: McCallum v. Killeen, 13–12. Ancestry record 572852004. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed “Tommy Caffey: junior halfback, 1-year letterman”, with an action photograph in jersey 24; “Tommy Caffey saved the day with his extra point. The final score, 13-12 for the Knights.”
  13. S492U.S., School Yearbooks — McCallum High School, Austin, 1963, p. 172: honors feature. Ancestry record 572852113. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed “A junior at McCallum, Tommy Caffey has received many honors”: vice-president of his sophomore class, president of his junior class, vice-president of the spring Student Council, on the all-A honor roll four times, and Junior Class Favorite; B team and varsity football. With a portrait.
  14. S534U.S., School Yearbooks — McCallum High School, Austin, 1962, p. 87: Football Club. Ancestry record 1170249027. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed “Tommy Caffey”, named last in the back row of the Football Club.
  15. S535U.S., School Yearbooks — McCallum High School, Austin, 1964, p. 190: Seniors. Ancestry record 680359574. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed The senior portrait of Tommy Caffey, class of 1964.

Know something this page doesn't? Send it to Earl — corrections, names, dates, documents. Nothing appears here until he has reviewed it.

Compiled for the Proeger family

Living adults appear in full, on the same terms as everyone else here: what the records say, each claim cited. Minors appear by name only — no date of birth, no birth year, no age, no school, no place, no address, no other identifying detail. A minor may be named and may appear in a family photograph; nothing further about them is published. Where it is not established whether someone is an adult or a minor, the minor rule applies.

Know something this record doesn't? Send it to Earl.

Top