Gonza Rangel’s family came to Dublin from Guanajuato, Mexico, when he was 15 years old. “When I started high school here, I didn’t know English,” he said. “High school was pretty hard for me, but I had to learn it one way or another, you know? If you want to be somebody in life, you have to work for it, try for it.”
Now a successful construction foreman, Rangel’s career is proof that hard work and perseverance pay off.
Rangel graduated from Dublin High School in 2010, and found a job working construction on dairies in the area. “We were building pretty much everything, from the bottom up,” he said.
The learning curve was steep for Rangel, but he was able to learn by paying close attention. “I didn’t even know how to read a tape measure,” he said. “I was just watching people, how they did everything.”
Over time, he did learn, and is grateful now for learning the trade right out of high school.
Rangel stayed at the construction company for five years, when a friend suggested he apply for an oilfield job. The job, which was focused on oil reclamation, required him to head out to West Texas for long shifts.
“It was very hard at first, because that’s when my two first kids were little,” he said. “I would be out there for two weeks and come home for one, depending on the job. It was hard not seeing my family.”
After three years in the oilfield, Rangel decided to come back home and work in construction again in Erath County.
He’s been working in the area since then, serving as foreman for several different construction companies, includinghiscurrentemployer, 4L Structures, which builds rodeo arenas.
His favorite projects to work on are custom structures. “That’s the stuff I like, because it’s hard,” he said. “I like to prove to everybody that we can do it.”
Being a foreman has made him appreciate even more the supervisors who took a chance on him at his first construction job. He plans to stay at his current position for the foreseeable future.
“I love everything about my job,” he said.“I don’t complain about anything. It’s what I learned to do right after high school, and I like it.”
When he has free time, Rangel enjoys riding horses, going fishing and spending time with his three boys. “We go swimming a lot,” he said. “They love the water.”
Rangel co-parents his three children, Wesley, 11, Cooper, 7 and Bentley, 9. His parents, Gonzalo and Luz-Maria Rangel, still live in Dublin, and his dad works at the Dreamcatcher dairy.
Throughout his life, Rangel has been inspired by others’ successes. “I would see other people and look at everything they have and think, ‘I’m going to be like them one day,’” he said.
Rangel’s advice to Dublin graduates is to chase their dreams. “You can do everything you want in life,” he said. “I came here with nothing; [now I know] anything is possible.”
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.