A Texas Family

By Ruth Ann Ruiz

The Post Newspaper Features Editor 

Constable Paul Edinburg and I met at his office in Santa Fe for our planned interview. We chatted about his career in law enforcement which started with the La Marque Police department as a reserve officer. 

Then he moved to the Texas City Police Department, again as a reserve officer. Finally, he landed a full-time position as a police officer with Texas City Police Department (TCPD). 

After retiring from the TCPD, Edinburgh took a job with then-Galveston County Constable Jimmy Fullen’s office, where he has been for about six years. He was appointed Constable of the county’s Precinct 2 in 2022 when Fullen announced his bid for Galveston County Sheriff. 

In March 2024, Edinburgh won the Republican primary election for the office of Constable of Precinct 2. There is no one opposing him on November’s ballot, so it seems he will serve as the Constable in Precinct 2 for the next four years. 

Edinburgh shared a couple changes he wants to make to the department, which include new uniforms, but they won’t be purple. That he is sure of.

“I’m a traditionalist, so the new uniforms will look traditional,” Edinburgh said. 

He is also hoping to take some of the paperwork involved in serving court papers to an online format. This would allow officials to use an e-file system rather than the cumbersome process of large amounts of paper being shuffled around from office to office.

As we neared the end of our conversation, he let down his guard and shared some insight into Paul Edinburgh, the man behind the badge. 

“I’m proud, super proud of my wife. We met after I graduated college. She grew up in the rough areas of Houston. She’s taking her master’s degree test right now as we speak,” he shared as his face became softer and his eyes warmer. 

He went on to add that he feels lucky to have the wife he does and to talk about her work with autistic children as a teacher in the Santa Fe School District. I interrupted him to ask when they would know if she had passed her master’s final. That would be in one month, he reported. 

At this point, I wanted to meet her and include her in this story and so we agreed to an interview that would include both husband and wife, if his wife was willing to be part of the story. 

Kellie Edinburgh and her husband found each other while she was a student at Sam Houston State University. 

“He came up to the college with his best friend, who was dating my roommate, so we all went out together,” Kellie said.

But both Kellie and Paul were seeing other people and the two of them didn’t have a madly-in-love-lets-ride-off-into-the-sunset kind of start. 

Kellie’s and Paul’s earliest memories of each other were like searching through all the pieces of a puzzle to figure out which ones would match.

“We just started seeing each other, and it was good,” Kellie said. “He’d come up every weekend. He quit seeing the other girlfriend, and I quit seeing the other guy.”

“Once you know, you know,” Paul added. 

As they spent time together, they learned how much they have in common. 

Both love dancing, and when they were younger, they went out to dance at venues typically patronized by college students. Now they dance together at family events, such as weddings and anniversary parties. 

Paul moved to Montgomery County and attended the police academy, fulfilling what he’d sensed since he was a child that he was called to do — serve in law enforcement. 

Kellie reminisced about that period.

 “The place he rented had roaches, and Paul is afraid of roaches,” said Kellie as she stifled a giggle. 

“I’m not afraid of wasps or bees, but a flying roach — that’s different,” Paul acknowledged.

As we sit and chat, the couple demonstrates how well they fit together. She finishes his sentences, and he finishes hers.

During our chat, they sat together on a piano bench. No one really plays the piano in the family, but everyone has had lessons. Paul’s mother was the church organist for 40 years, so he had his share of piano lessons.

But Paul didn’t really take to playing the piano. 

“I wanted to be outside,” Paul explained. 

Both he and Kellie love the outdoors. They go out on family camping weekends at least twice a year. Their most recent one was in Livingston, Texas. 

The Edinburghs have four children and two sons-in-law.

Their youngest is a recent high school graduate from College of the Mainland’s Collegiate High School who plans to become a lineman. Their daughters live nearby with their husbands, and one son is a student at Texas A&M University. 

Five years ago, with their nest close to being empty, the Edinburghs purchased two acres of land in Santa Fe and built a 3,500-square-foot house. 

 “We cleared the land as a family with machetes on weekends,” shared Paul. “This is our forever home,” he added. 

They don’t feel the house is too big or that the property is too large, even though, on a daily basis, there aren’t as many people living on the property as there were when they first moved in. They built the home intending for it to be the place for hosting many large family gatherings. 

Their dining room table has ten seats, enough for each of the Edinburghs, their children’s spouses and the people who might be dating one of their unmarried children. At least once a week, the house is filled with all their children and their partners. 

They celebrated their youngest son’s high school graduation with a party. The celebration included tents, a bouncy castle, a volleyball net, music, barbecue and at least 100 guests in their spacious backyard. 

The party was a great success, and it was a time when Paul was also able to commemorate his wife’s master’s degree graduation. 

“Paul made sure we celebrated my degree at the party,” Kellie said. 

Yes, she did pass her exam but had to miss her graduation ceremony because it fell on the same date as their son’s high school graduation. Kellie didn’t seem to mind missing her commencement. In fact, she didn’t even mention it. Only her husband had spoken of it back at his office in early May. 

As I shared earlier, Kellie’s teaching career has been focused on special education. With the completion of her master’s degree in administration, she aspires to remain in special education but move into an administrative role. 

Though they don’t talk much about God or religion, their faith is fully present in their lives. They are parishioners at Queen of the Angels church. All their children attended school at Queen of the Angels. 

After 34 years of marriage preceded by four years of dating, the Edingburghs have developed a relationship that has supported both their careers and allowed for the raising of four children. Their love for life and family provides for countless hours of joy in their lives.

“We laugh together all the time. Sometimes we laugh so hard we cry,” both Paul and Kellie shared.

Keeping their love alive has meant carving out time for themselves, which they have done. 

“We make it a habit to go away together twice a year and just be with each other,” they shared. 

They agreed their favorite location in their house is on the back porch. There they can sit and enjoy the sunset while remembering the parties they have hosted, planning for the next party, and debating whether they will add a swimming pool to the property. 

Sitting and chatting with them was an easy experience. They described their marriage similarly

“It’s been an easy marriage,” Paul said as they looked at each other in agreement. 

Kellie shared that she is looking forward to grandchildren with enthusiasm, while Paul remains a bit stoic at the thought of grandchildren. But then he goes on to talk of the future and what he might add to the backyard to entertain little ones.