Where Are They Now?

Wanona Gilbreath Stevens grew up in a very religious family, and at a young age found the values that would shape her interactions with the world. Throughout her life as a working woman and a pastor’s wife, she’s tried hard to be kind, understanding of peoples’ differences, and supportive of those she loves.

Stevens graduated from Dublin High School in 1958. In Dublin, Stevens spent most of her free time at church, cheering with the pep squad, or taking part in Future Teachers of America.

Her class was known for being full of troublemakers — their senior trip to New Orleans went so badly wrong that several classes after them didn’t get a trip at all — but by the time they all left school, they were closer than friends. “We don’t even consider ourselves classmates anymore,” she said. “We are a family.”

After Stevens graduated, she went on to Howard Payne to study elementary education. She took a job in the cafeteria there to earn a little extra money, and soon hit it off with a coworker, Jack Stevens.

He didn’t ask her out right away — in fact, the couple didn’t start dating until she made the first move by inviting him to the Sadie Hawkins dance.

The two dated for two years, and then were married at Central Baptist Church in Brownwood, Texas.

After their marriage, Stevens left school to move with her husband to Fort Worth where he entered Southwestern Baptist Seminary.. The first church they moved to was in Selden, just outside of Stephenville. They stayed for three years. Jack was commuting daily to Fort Worth for school.

Stevens took a job working in the seminary library, and then another working for Carter Blood Bank. “I really enjoyed that job,” she said. “I worked in the office but we also went out on blood drives to get blood donations.”

She also stayed active in her church, and her work there led her to be featured in a book called Outstanding Young Women of America.

When her husband graduated, they left Fort Worth and moved to Normangee, Texas, a small town near College Station. By this time they had been married for seven years, and still had no children, so when a woman in their church asked if they might be interested in adoption, we told Her yes.

After going through the process with an adoption agency in Dallas, Texas, the Stevens took home a baby girl, only 13 days old. Stevens spent much of her time in Normangee taking care of the baby, whom they named Kimberly.

The Stevens moved around two more times after Normangee. Stevens pastored a church in Chilton, Texas, near Waco. and then made the move after 8 and one half years to San Antonio.. “All of our church towns were very small, less than 500 people,” she said. “I wanted to go to a big city so bad.”

When an opportunity came up at a church in San Antonio in 1980, the couple accepted the call and moved there and threw themselves into making a home for themselves.

“We had a fairly large church at the time,” Stevens said. “We had a lot of meetings, a lot of things that we did, I was very involved in the church and sang in a quartet that went around to different churches to sing.”

Stevens even sang on TV. “My husband had a program, and we had a quartet that sang on there,” she said. “I really enjoyed that.”

Over the next years in San Antonio, Stevens worked various jobs in the area. She spent a while at an insurance company, but eventually had to take a break because of migraines. Next she worked at a Christan book store.

The last job she held before retiring was as a data entry controller for RCI, a records consultant firm.. When the workers went out to survey properties before insuring them, she would read over their reports and enter it into the system. “I enjoyed that job,” she said. “It was pretty nice.”

Stevens finally retired in 2009. She now spends her time keeping house, keeping up with classmates, and other friends. “I have a group of friends that I go shopping with,” she said. “We go to Macy’s and have a girl’s day out often.”

Her husband still serves as a pastor for a small group of people at Riverside Baptist Church. “Even though we’re very small, God has allowed us the ability to stay open on our little corner,” she said. “Many of the old churches our size have closed or been torn down. We feel blessed that we’re ‘hanging on.’”

Stevens has a sister, Beverly, who is in senior care in Stephenville. Stevens’ daughter, now 51, lives in San Antonio, and has three sons. Michael, the oldest, is 31, Jeffrey is 25, and James is 23.

Stevens still owns a house in Dublin, but is planning to sell it. The town holds many fond memories for her from when she was growing up. “In the 1950s, the world was nothing like what we live in today,” she said. “We’d get home from school and ride our bikes up and down the street, and we would play out in the yard with the kids that were on our street. We’d stand out at night and catch lightning bugs under the street lights, until mom made us go to bed.”

She remembers family dinners around the table, and amazing teachers at Dublin schools. And although she loves San Antonio, Stevens sometimes misses the closeness of a small town. “Dublin is just so neat,” she said. “When I was a kid I used to tell my mom all the time when I got to be 21 I was leaving this place and never coming back. And now I wish I could go back.”

Throughout her life, Stevens’ faith has been her main source of inspiration. “I became a Christian when I was 11 years old,” she said. “My faith in God has guided me, most of the way. And then in Brownwood when I met Jack, we clicked — I didn’t know what kind of pastor’s wife I would like but I was willing to try. And so that’s what we’ve been doing all these years.”

Steven’s advice to Dublin graduates is to stay true to your values, and always be kind. “I wasn’t the most popular person in school, but one time one of my classmates told me they thought I was probably the nicest girl in our class,” she said. “Just know that people notice. Even if you’re not the most popular, if you are true to yourself and to God, people notice.” Don’t try to be something you’re not.

Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other graduates, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.