Frank Diaz Jr., who helped start Fort Worth’s Code Blue Citizens on Patrol program as a volunteer and remained an organizer of his Crestwood neighborhood’s unit for 36 years, died Dec. 30 of complications from cancer, his family said.
Diaz, known affectionately as the “Mayor of Crestwood” and “Crestwood Constable,” died peacefully at home, his family said. He was 85.
“He was great at getting people involved,” Jeremy Bravo, the Crestwood Association president, said Monday. “He was great at getting young people involved. You saw his age, but he was so energetic. I think that’s why Crestwood is one of the safest neighborhoods in Fort Worth.”
The Fort Worth Police Crime Prevention Northwest Division, where Diaz was a fixture at monthly meetings, announced his death in its January newsletter.
“He was Northwest Division’s longest-serving COP captain, faithfully covering the Crestwood area for 36 years,” the unit wrote in the newsletter. “Frank was a dedicated and kind soul whose commitment and leadership left a lasting impact on the COP program and our community.”
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker poses with Frank Diaz Jr. during National Night Out in October 2025. Diaz’ cancer was diagnosed in July. (Courtesy photo | Crestwood Association)
Mayor Mattie Parker described Diaz as the “very best of Fort Worth” because of his service and genuine care for the community.
“As one of the longest-serving Citizens on Patrol volunteers, he worked tirelessly to make the Crestwood neighborhood and our entire city a safer, stronger place for everyone,” Parker said in a statement. “I’m deeply honored to have known him, and his legacy of service will continue to inspire us all.”
Diaz was born in 1940 in Fort Worth, the 13th and youngest child of Francisco and Petra Zapata Diaz, his family said. He and his wife, Elizabeth (Snyder) Diaz, married in 1962 and reared two children — Steven Diaz and Katrina Diaz. Frank was a career beef salesman, selling for various local meat companies through the years, the family said.
The family moved to Crestwood in the 1970s. In 1981, Diaz became a charter member of the residents’ Crestwood Association, according to a police nomination of him in 2022 for Fort Worth’s Chuck Silcox Award for contributions to Citizens on Patrol. He served as the association’s block representative, president and longtime chair of the security committee.
“During the first few years of the association’s existence, Frank was at the forefront of efforts to promote the association and unite the community toward its goals of promoting harmony among its residents, vigilance against crime, and cooperation with government officials for the general welfare of the neighborhood and its residents,” the award nomination read.
“There were many miles walked distributing newsletters, much time spent in conversation promoting household membership and encouraging resident participation, and days of work every fall both before and after a neighborhood-wide picnic sponsored by the association.”
In 1987, Diaz and a group of neighbors took the Crestwood crime watch to “another level, a patrol by citizens modeled on a concept developed in the Oakhurst neighborhood,” the nomination read.
The Crestwood Crime Patrol launched in 1988. In 1991, Diaz was among more than 100 citizens who inaugurated Fort Worth’s Citizens on Patrol. He subsequently traveled with a group to help Fort Worth present its successful case for the All-America City Award in 1993 and 2011.
Even though Diaz was nominated for the Silcox award, “we were so affected by the submission that we made an award particularly for him acknowledging his dedication to his community and the FWPD,” said Shirley Zertuche, one of the police department’s volunteer coordinators. The city awarded Diaz its COP Lifetime Achievement Award that year.
Jason Back, Fort Worth Police Department neighborhood patrol officer for Crestwood, said he typically met with Diaz two to three times per week, usually at a neighborhood park, sometimes at Diaz’s home.
“Even through past illnesses, he still showed up,” Back said. “He had a smile on his face. He represented the community. That’s what the police would love to have 100 of, 200 of, 300 of, 1,000 of. He was a pillar of the community. Everybody knew him, unless you were new to the community.”
Even if you were new, chances are you met Diaz relatively quickly, community members noted. He cooked hot dogs for years at the neighborhood’s Fourth of July parties and tried to meet everybody who attended, said Bravo, who recalls meeting Diaz at the neighborhood’s first gathering after COVID.
Diaz’s career in sales made it easy for him to be a big welcomer in the neighborhood, Bravo said. “He was just great at talking to people.”
His daughter, Katrina Diaz, remembers growing up watching her dad walk the neighborhood on volunteer missions.
“He knew everyone’s name,” she said. “He kept up with their occupations and their children.”
Diaz was also an active member of the Fort Worth running community, running marathons and duathlons, including the Boston Marathon in 2007. Diaz, who retired in 2013, was involved in local organizations such as Streams & Valleys and Cook Children’s Medical Center, where he volunteered on Mondays as an escort in admissions, the family said.
Diaz was born in Fort Worth and graduated from Trimble Tech High School. He was already working full time by the time he graduated and moved into meat sales.
Diaz was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth, who died in 2011. He is survived by son Steven Diaz and partner Sarah Martin; daughter Katrina Diaz and husband Neal Bailey; granddaughter Zoë Diaz and grandsons Ethan and Jacob Bailey.
Visitation: 6-8 p.m. Jan. 7 at Greenwood Funeral Home in Memorial Suites C & D, 3344 White Settlement Road.
Funeral: Noon Jan. 8 in Greenwood’s Live Oak Chapel, 3100 White Settlement Road.
Reception: 1:30-2:30 p.m. Jan. 8 at Greenwood Funeral Home in Memorial Suites C & D.
Interment: Greenwood Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Cook Children’s Health Foundation.
Scott Nishimura is senior editor for local government accountability at the Fort Worth Report. Reach him at scott.nishimura@fortworthreport.org.
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