Dublin lost a volunteer with a servant’s heart when Charles Faulkner died June 4 in Houston.
Faulkner was the owner of F&F Floor Super Store, a member of the Highland Missionary Baptist Church and a former president of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. He also provided a face for the Dublin Rodeo Heritage Association at numerous events, taking tickets at the annual banquet for those walking in the door and delivering pulled pork lunches out the back door during the drive through fundraiser started during the COVID pandemic.
Faulkner also had a big part in the literal face of the Dublin Rodeo Heritage Museum as he designed the Honor and Memorial Walk found inside the front door, finding the “Texas Red” granite tile and purchasing all he could for future use. He also constructed the wooden ramp that leads to the front door in 2014 after finding some elderly people had trouble getting up the steep steps and in 2019, Faulkner designed and helped cut out 40 wooden shamrocks for the popular decoration contest fundraiser.
Charles began his association with the museum as a board member when it opened in 2003, offering assistance in the early years and returning to a board position in 2014, serving as treasurer for the past seven years.
“One thing you can say about Charles is he always got the job done no matter what he was assigned to do,” said the Dublin Rodeo Heritage Museum in a Facebook post. “He was a big part of the team work that the Rodeo Heritage Museum has enjoyed in the last several years.”
“The Dublin Rodeo Heritage Association is proud to have Charles as a friend and partner,” the post added. “He built a legacy at the Rodeo Heritage Museum for all to remember. Rest in peace Charles you have made a place in the history of Dublin Rodeo Heritage Museum.”
His work was also honored by Dr. Vernon Williams, who helped in archival and exhibit work with his students from Abilene Christian University. Williams remembers the work that went into the presentation of the museum and Faulkner’s hand in it all in the following testimonial.
“Building a rodeo museum was an overwhelming task to accomplish, and Charles Faulkner was there at the beginning, bringing his talents and his commitment to community service to the project. Charles proved to be an inspiration for hundreds of university students and to all of us who worked with him in those early days.
“I remember Charles Faulkner as we walked into the old Higginbotham Lumber Company building for the first time and surveyed the cracked plaster walls and rooms filled with faded paint and the debris of countless years of neglect.
“Charles was there when we began the demolition, with sledge hammers breaking the plaster and lath work back to the solid framework of the early building.
“Working side by side with students and the rest of the dream team, Charles began building back the new exhibition walls, fixtures, paint, and gallery spaces that would bring the Dublin rodeo story back to life.
“Charles made a difference with the hard part, but he was on hand for the fun part too. He brought his tools again when we needed to mount DVD video players throughout the galleries, install photograph and text labels, and create a memorial walk on the entrance floor to honor those who had lived the history of Dublin rodeo.
“When I think of Charles Faulkner and the legacy that he has left behind, I think first of the students who came from every corner of our nation. Charles worked with many of them who now have been teaching for many years, and all of them left Dublin for the last time with impressions of Charles and others who helped equip each of them for service later in their own schools and communities.
“Charles has left all of us with a model of what community service should look like. These pictures serve as reminders of the good that can come from a serving heart. These are memories that I carry of Charles Faulkner and all those who came together over twenty years ago to accomplish something good and lasting.”