Where Are They Now?

For years, Dublin graduate Jennifer Lowery has been a familiar face to Dublin residents. Whether she’s working at the supermarket, Granny Clark’s, or the First National Bank of Dublin, or volunteering in the community, she loves to help out and be around the people in the town she loves.

“The community of Dublin, they embrace you,” she said. “I was born in Wichita, Kansas — I moved to Dublin in 1989 when I was in the third grade — and the people in Dublin have made me feel like family.”

Lowery’s long run of jobs in beloved Dublin institutions started when she was in high school. At 15 years old, Lowery got her first job as a dishwasher at the Sunset Cafe, a restaurant in town which has since closed.

“I loved it there,” she said. “It was one of Dublin’s treasures. We had homemade everything, and after rodeos everyone would come in and eat and sit at the long bar. It had an old-timey feel with an old jukebox, and after work we would put some quarters in and play it and dance and do our work.”

The restaurant closed when Lowery was 17, and she found a new job at David’s Supermarket — now Brookshire Brothers. She kept working there after she graduated from Dublin High School in 2001.

At first she was a cashier, but soon she had the opportunity to become a butcher there. “They had a spot open, and my boss taught me how to cut beef. It’s a lot of training. You have to learn how to cut a certain way, and you have to learn how to slice on a slicer and stuff like that. It was fun, and a unique experience.”

Lowery ended up working at David’s for 16 years. After a few years, she was working as a manager, and balancing her duties there with a part-time job waitressing at Granny Clark’s.

“I would just go from David’s to Granny Clark’s and see all my coffee drinkers at sunset, you know, six o’clockers just joking around at the table,” she said.

Then, in 2016, she found another job as a drive through teller at First National Bank in Dublin. “I love it because I see everybody that I know. And I get to talk to them about their lives, get to know them, meet new people.”

She hopes to stay at the bank for the foreseeable future. “I like working with the Leatherwoods, and everyone there,” she said.

When she’s not working, Lowery stays active. “I love roller skating,” she said. “Me and my girls, we like to go to Granbury and go roller skating.”

She also coaches peewee basketball. “I love kids,” she said. “They’re just the funniest to watch play basketball.”

Another of her passions is volunteering. “Dublin is my community, and I do a lot of volunteer work here,” she said. “I’ve taught Girl Scouts for four years, I help with the booster club, I’m on the library board, I did Meals on Wheels. I just love my community and to serve my people.”

Lowery lives in Dublin with her husband of 10 years, Jeff Lowery, and her two daughters Gabrielle Richardson, 19, and Shelby Richardson, 15. Lowery’s parents, James and Shirley Meyers, also live in Dublin.

Lowery draws inspiration from the Dublin community. “I’ve gotten to know people here, I’ve babysat their kids, and now I see the kids that I’ve babysat have kids and it’s amazing. The community is definitely my inspiration.”

Her advice to graduates is to cultivate a go-withthe-flow attitude. “Whatever life throws you, you just gotta just adapt to it and move on,” she said. “Life is hard. And some days it’s gonna be good, some days it’s gonna be tough. If you can, you’ve just got to put the pieces together and figure it out.”

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.