Where Are They Now?

Delmar Spoonts and his family moved to Dublin when he was a junior in high school, and Spoonts took a part-time job at the sewing factory to help out his family. He would work on the cutting line, cutting material for dress pants, or do odd jobs around the factory.

His father, Martis Spoonts, was an electrician and worked on the factory’s electrical systems. Sometime Spoonts would help him out, and was able to learn the foundational skills of an electrician.

Spoonts graduated from Dublin in 1962 and left Dublin to move down to San Marcos for a while to attend what is now Texas State University. While there, he saw a job posting for the Austin Police Department. “I went down and put in my name, and next thing I knew I was a policeman in the city of Austin,” he said.

His first assignment was a harsh introduction to policing; Spoonts was assigned to check in on the wife of Charles Whitman, who shot and killed over 16 people from the University of Texas tower. When Spoonts arrived at the Whitmans’ house, he found Charles Whitman’s wife had been murdered as well.

Spoonts worked in policing for 11 years. He quickly learned he didn’t like family disturbance calls, and began to explore other sections of the police force. He found that he enjoyed collision investigations. “The last half of the time I was there, all I did was investigate serious wrecks,” he said. “If they didn’t call an ambulance, I wouldn’t go.”

Spoonts decided to pursue a different career path in 1976 in order to make more money to provide for his wife and young child. “One morning my wife said, ‘Bring some milk home with you when you come home from work,’ and I did not have the money for even one gallon of milk,” Spoonts remembered. “And that’s the real reason I quit.”

After leaving the police force, Spoonts decided to go into the restaurant industry. He started supervising Sonic driveins, which was a fun job but did not offer him much time off to be with his family. “We only had three days off a year — Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving,” he said.

So in 1985, after eight years working in the restaurant business, he decided to quit and become self-employed. He remembered some of the electrical skills he had learned while working with his father at the sewing factory, and so he started looking for contract work. He had a friend who was installing air conditioners and needed someone to help with the electrical work, so Spoonts started helping him out.

Spoonts worked with his friend for ten years, then started his own company. He’s had sole proprietorship of his company for nearly two decades now, and manages three full-time employees and several contractors. These days he mostly supervises the work, and doesn’t spend too much hands-on time with the wiring. “I’m a little old to be crawling up in the attic or lying on the floor doing plugs,” he said.

In the past, he’s worked on huge houses in Austin near Lake Travis, as well as apartment complexes in Stephenville. He’s fairly picky about what jobs he takes on. “If I’m covered up in work, I’ll tell people to call me back in two weeks,” he said. “Basically all I’m doing is supplementing my retirement.”

He currently works in Hico, Hamilton, Stephenvelle and DeLeon.

When Spoonts isn’t working, he attends Edna Hill Baptist Church and enjoys working on his sister’s 20-acre property, taking care of chickens and cattle. “They give me something to do,” he said.

He also enjoys traveling. “I have a work van, and I’ll take all my tools out of that and put a little bed roll back there and just travel.”

Spoonts is now divorced, and has three grown children. His youngest, Austin, lives in Dallas. His middle son Brett is also an electrician and works on swimming pools in Austin. His oldest daughter, Melissa, lives in Dallas and works as a musician.

His advice to Dublin graduates is to appreciate where they’re at. “There is a lot to do in the area if a person would just look at what’s available,” 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.