About seven years ago, when Manuel DeLeon was a teenager, his older brother Isaiah passed away. “Before he passed away, I wasn’t really a good kid in school,” DeLeon said. “I was failing my grades and getting in trouble. After he passed away, I started acting better, getting good grades and being on top of my classes, and [now] he’s still one of the reasons why I go to work every night.”
Now DeLeon is a father of two boys (one named Isaiah after his brother) and has a solid job as a jailer at the Brown County Jail.
DeLeon graduated from Dublin High School in 2020. During the 2020 school year, Dublin High School shut down due to the pandemic. DeLeon needed something to fill his time and started working as a shipping manager for Superior Essex, a global manufacturer of magnet wire.
He balanced the job with his schoolwork when classes resumed, and after graduation he took a full time position there. He enjoyed his work as a shipping supervisor there, and stayed for four years.
“I got to meet a lot of new people, especially truck drivers that came in and out of the department,” he said. “And I worked with amazing co-workers.”
But as he assumed more and more responsibilities at the company, DeLeon started working more 12-hour days and began looking for a career that would allow him to spend more time with his family (his first son was born in 2020).
Towards the end of last year, DeLeon’s sister-inlaw started working as a dispatcher for the Comanche County Jail. DeLeon decided to apply for a job at the Brown County Jail in Brownwood, and got the job.
“My average day at my job is a night shift,” DeLeon said. “We’ll get [the inmates] dinner, then, throughout the night, we’ll make sure nothing’s going on — contraband or anything illegal or fighting.” He also supervises visitation for the prisoners.
DeLeon enjoys spending time with his coworkers at the jail. The work can be tough sometimes, but he also finds enjoyment in working with some of the inmates who work hard to turn their lives around. “They’re still good people and they just want to do the time and go on to be a better person than they were,” he said.
DeLeon’s job allows him to spend more time with his family, and he plans to stay there for at least five more years. “Maybe someday I can go through the process of becoming a police officer for the Brown County Sheriff’s Office,” he said.
When he’s not working, DeLeon enjoys spending time with his wife Sara and their two sons, Isaiah, 4 and Ezekiel, 2. DeLeon is proud of how far his family has come, from him and his wife having a child as teenagers to now being homeowners with good jobs.
“Right now we’re in the process of moving to a new house,” he said. “My days off right now are spent packing. But usually I get the house cleaned up or play a little video game to ease my mind. And since we have a new house and a bigger yard, I started doing yard work now.” DeLeon was raised by his grandparents, Laura and Bob Gonzalez. The Gonzalez’s still live in Dublin. DeLeon enjoyed growing up in Dublin.
“ Everyone knew everybody and it was nice to have that small community,” he said. “I can remember when people had a house burn down or something and needed help, there were always people helping them.”
DeLeon encourages future Dublin graduates to be open to opportunities and trust that they will find their place. “Life has a funny way of showing what’s out there for you,” he said.
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.