Dublin recently lost a lifelong advocate and friend when Justice of the Peace Bart Greenway died at the end of November.
“Best thing about Dublin and Erath is the care for one another,” said Dublin Intermediate Principal Amanda Lisso, Bart’s daughter. “If you asked him where he was from, he’d say, ‘Dublin, Texas!’”
This love of the community was handed down as his family had been in Dublin for several generations when Bart and his twin brother, Bret were born at the Dublin hospital on June 6, 1960.
A drought had left money tight when Bart graduated from Dublin High School, so the family wasn’t able to afford for him to go to college. Instead, Bart and his older brother, Gary, started running the Greenway Dairy in Alexander.
Amanda thinks the fact that he wasn’t able to get a secondary education was what drove him to push both of his daughters to pursue higher education. “At a very young age, I knew that was the expectation,” Amanda said.
He expressed pride in Amanda and Emily (Akard) for going beyond Bachelor’s degrees and in helping educate the next generation as Amanda is principal at Dublin Intermediate and Emily is a diagnostician at Stephenville ISD.
“One of the few times I remember him crying is when I got this job,” Amanda said.
In 1981, he was married to the love of his life Ruby Jane Osborn, a teacher at
Lingleville who he met at the Silver River. She was into dancing and for her, he was willing to try.
“Mother had rhythm, dad tried his best,” Amanda said. “I remember seeing them dancing in the living room at times.”
They were married for 25 years before Ruby died in 2006.
“After my mother died, I remember him looking at me and saying, ‘We’re going to be okay,” Amanda said. “That was the worst of his life but he was strong enough to tell me and my sister that.”
“Strength of character and a value of education- I think those are the two biggest life lessons he left for me.
Amanda cited this strength of character in his transition from blue collar to white collar after he retired from the dairy work in 1999-2000.
Following the retirement, Bart was elected to the school board and helped out in any extracurricular activities his daughters found important.
He also worked at the polls during elections. Bart was an avid supporter of the election process and encouraged his daughters to always exercise their right to vote. This belief and an enjoyment of the work led him to become work with elections in the County.
In 2011, he decided to run for Justice of the Peace and was elected to represent Dublin in Precinct 2.
Amanda remembered being amazed at all the studying he had to do for the position and learning a job which involved a lot of computer work after spending decades in the dairy industry at not having much to do with computers. She said the drive seemed to come from him being called to help neighbors in a respectful manner during major moments in their life.
“Our father had a unique form of patience to listen and was always a source of encouragement to friends and family,” said Emily. “I believe his compassion and pride in his community is what made him an excellent Justice of the Peace.”
This care and compassion could reportedly be seen in the way he conducted himself when having to respond to fatal accidents (Amanda said he always prayed about making the right decision and for the families) and in handling marriage ceremonies.
Bart took pictures with every couple he married and kept them in an album. He also kept decorations in his chambers, which he would put out for the ceremony.
He conducted himself with the same respect in all of his decisions.
“We had several parents say Dad had set their son or daughter straight because they needed to understand the consequences of their actions,” Amanda said, indicating Bart took the time to really communicate with the kids that ended up in his court. “They appreciated that about him.”
“My father was a friend to all types of people,” said Emily. “He just made you feel special, important, and valued.”
Emily also cited his infectious laugh, joking nature and story-telling as a reason he endeared himself to so many and a reason he made a good Santa Claus, when he would don the suit.
Amanda confirmed that Bart was known for telling many stories and had passed on many to his children and grandchildren.
Although our Justice of the Peace will be missed, the stories and life lessons, both big and small, he shared with his friends and family will keep him a treasured part of the Dublin community.