Where Are They Now?

Darrell Laxson grew up working on his dad’s car lot. “I would clean cars, work on engines, detail, and do all kinds of mechanic work,” he said.

That experience served him well over his career, which he has spent working in quality control, doing handyman work and owning several of his own businesses, including a car lot of his own. Now, Laxson has reached a point where he can take things a little easier.

Laxson graduated from Dublin High School in 1988. Just a few weeks after, he found a job at Norton — now Saint Gobain — in quality control. Laxson worked there for 15 years, eventually reaching a supervisor role as a quality service representative.

He stayed at Saint Gobain until 2003, when he left the job to work as a handyman. He spent time in Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005 helping make repairs after Hurricane Katrina, and then in 2006 returned to Texas and worked for Bruner Motors for a few years.

Soon, he and his friend started their own car lot, and ran a carpet cleaning business on the side. In 2016, Laxson sold the car lot and carpet cleaning business, and added a new career to his portfolio: real estate. His uncle owned Dublin Realty, and encouraged Laxson to get into the field.

“He’d been doing it since 1970, and, and I just went to him and said, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about getting my real estate license. Can I come up here and work with you?’” said Laxson. “I’ve been with him ever since and I’ll stay with him until he’s out.”

Laxson continues to work a flexible schedule in real estate. “He lets me do what I need to do,” he said. “I’m really free.”

This means he’s able to balance real estate with other jobs. In 2019, he started working part time at the Proctor post office, and continues to work there today.

In 2020 Laxson underwent heart surgery and took some time to recover, and since then he’s been taking things easier.

“I was off work for about six months, they wouldn’t let me drive, they wouldn’t let me do anything, so I just kind of got away from [real estate],” he said. “Now I mostly do real estate for people I know. I do some referrals and some return business, but I’m not hustling real estate like I used to.”

Laxson enjoys the slower pace and his newfound free time. “I like to cook; I like to grill; I like to go places on little weekend road trips to different places,” he said. “I might go down to Gruene, Texas, I might go to Dallas for a weekend to hang out with my friends. I just kind of do what I want to do now. Working, trying to play.”

Laxson lives in Dublin with his two sons Devin and Dayton, 28 and 33. His parents, Sammy and Pat Gilbert, live nearby. “Family is a big deal,” he said. “I like to be around family and my good close friends.”

Laxson’s parents are one of his greatest sources of inspiration. “My parents worked their behinds off to get where they’re at and to retire when they retired,” he said. “That’s where I got a lot of [my work ethic] from, is my parents.”

He’s always trying to become a better person. “As you grow older you learn from the mistakes you make in life,” he said. “I try to live right, be nice, do the right thing and not get upset.”

Laxson’s advice to Dublin graduates is to keep a good sense of perspective. “Don’t sweat the small things,” he said. “Learn from your mistakes, and appreciate everybody that helps you. I’ve had a lot of people steer me in the right direction, or slap me in the back of the head to get me back on course over the years.”

Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen. com.