Throughout his life, Colton Williams has worked hard to provide for those around him. In addition to his career at a chemical plant, Williams is also a volunteer firefighter in the Port Lavaca area, and enjoys feeding his family fresh vegetables from his oneacre garden.
Williams attended Dublin schools from kindergarten through his sophomore year, when he and his family moved down to Port Lavaca for his mother’s job as an athletic director. He graduated from high school in 2010, and went on to Victoria College to earn his basics. He then transferred to the University of Houston Victoria, where he graduated with a degree in education in 2014.
Williams was planning to become a teacher and coach, but shortly after graduating college he and his wife had their first child, and he decided he needed to find a career where he could make more money to support his family.
The area around Port Lavaca has several chemical plants, and Williams applied and was hired as a process operator at Dow Chemical. He runs a processing unit that makes chemicals and plastics that go on to be used for electric cables, plastic bags, cosmetics and sterile hospital equipment.
“I make sure machinery runs correctly, I fix it when it’s down, and then I’m also a board operator,” he said.
Williams works 12-hour shifts, sometimes from 3am to 3pm and sometimes from 3pm to 3am. Because of the intensive schedule, he has a lot of time off to spend with his family. “I work six months out of the year, two weeks out of the month,” he said.
He’s been with Dow for 10 years now, and plans to stay until he retires. He’s currently in training to become shift supervisor.
While at Dow, Williams took on a role of captain for the fire brigade for the chemical plant. “I fell in love with being a firefighter, so on my off days I became a volunteer,” he said.
Williams is now one of 12 volunteer firefighters for the Port Lavaca area. The area has a lot of grass fires and the city only has three firefighters per shift, so they rely heavily on the 12 volunteers. Williams finds the work rewarding. “You’re there for individuals in their darkest time,” he said.
When Williams is not working, he enjoys planting and harvesting vegetables from his garden. “I’m a garden fanatic,” he said. “My garden’s one acre big, and I mainly live off my garden. I grow over 60 different vegetables in the garden and another 50-60 in my greenhouse.”
Williams and his wife Jillian have been married for 16 years. They have two children, Addisyn, 9 and Mattilynn, 10. His parents, Donna and Kirby Williams, live nearby in Port Lavaca.
Throughout his life, Williams has found inspiration in his wife Jillian. “She’s a stay-athome mom, so she’s always pushing me to better ourselves and better our life,” he said.
His family motivates Williams to work hard. “With the economy the way it is, [I’m] trying to strive to do better for my family and kids and give them the opportunities that I didn’t have,” he said.
Williams advice to Dublin graduates is to take education seriously. “Focus on your grades, because everything in life revolves around education nowadays,” he said. “If you don’t take education seriously, then you end up working harder than others to get where you’re at.”
— Where Are They Now chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.