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The Swindle’s School taught men who were crippled by Polio or in military service to earn a living doing watch repair. Grady Swindle’s kind words taught the men they could still lead a good life even with a disability. Mr. Swindle is in the center of the photo in the wheel chair. Tom Rogers | Ralph and Dossie Rogers Collection Tarleton University
Swindle Jewelry was a wonderful business in Dublin. If you needed a Christmas gift or something for a birthday, people could always find the perfect item to give.
Grady Swindle early in life had problems with arthritis which crippled him. His wife, Gracie had polio when she was 3 years old and she ended up walking on crutches too.
Grady Swindle never let his arthritis stop him from doing what he wanted to do. He had the mind and the determination to push through what ever physical disabilities he had. Though he and his wife were both using crutches, they first lived in a second story garage apartment near Dublin High School. They went up and down the stairs several times a day to their apartment.
The swindles opened their jewelry store in 1943. Soon after their store was up and running, a representative from the government came and asked Grady Swindle to open a school for those with disabilities and returning veterans. Eventually he did that. The school stayed open from 1944 until 1959. During that time the school trained 250-300 boys in watch repair and watch making. The school course work lasted 18 months. The government would at the end of the school, give the students a watch makers desk or a watch cleaning set.
Not a lot of students opened their own shops. Many guys went to work for Texas Instruments because over the course of their work, had acquired the manual dexterity to do delicate jobs. Texas Instruments needed their skills for the making of transistors and other electronic components. It was tedious work that required a steady hand and the the patience learned by watch repair.
A number of students had been crippled by Polio. Others were veterans who had come back from World War II or Korea and could no longer walk or work in physical jobs. Many of these students had thought their world and come to an end when they no longer had the use of their legs. Grady Swindle talked to them and told them there was a way to earn a living and lead a productive life.
Some students who had came back from the military had lived in a world of destruction for 4 or 5 years and were frustrated and angry. Grady Swindle, as he was teaching watch repair, also was teaching them a different frame of mind. He helped them to work through the anger, relax and become a productive part of civil society.
Gail Swindle, Grady’s son told the story of how his dad had 2 students who never seemed to be able to get passed the bitterness of being crippled. Some years later one of them came by the Jewelry store and spoke with Grady. He had gone to Texas Instruments and gotten a good paying job. He had married and had kids. His life was a success though it was not as he had planned.
Later on, the Swindles were asked to go to the Stephenville Courthouse and file suit against the county commissioner because the courthouse wasn’t handicapped accessible. The Swindles refused to do that. They felt that they could go up and down the stairs anytime they wanted to. It wasn’t a barrier to them because they had the mindset that they could do anything they wanted to. Nobody was going to stop them.
Dublin has a long history of ordinary people who have done extraordinary things with their lives. The Swindle family is an example of what things can be done with a vision toward the future and mindset that nothing is going to stop them.