Where Are They Now?

Adrianne Fails always loved working with people. “I like seeing what things I can do to improve a situation for them,” she said.

At this mission, she has succeeded; throughout her several different jobs, Fails has been able to help out in medical, practical and educational fields.

Fails graduated from Dublin High School in 1976, and went on to Tarleton State University. While there studying biology, she met Ron Fails in geology class. The two began dating, and married in 1978. When Ron graduated, Fails left school to move with him to San Antonio, where they stayed for just over a year before moving back to the Dublin area.

Back in town, Fails took a job at the Stephenville Medical and Surgical Clinic working in bookkeeping. Fails had always been an early adopter of new technologies, and at the clinic she helped them transition to computers for their data systems.

She also helped out as a receptionist for Dr. Frank Te r rell, an ophthalmologist there. “I enjoyed all of his patients, and being able to visit with people all day long,” she said.

Fails and her husband had two sons. In 1990, when the children were young, Fails decided to find a job that would allow her to have her sons with her during the workday. She and her husband purchased a Sears catalog store in Comanche, where they sold appliances, tools and other household items.

‘It was definitely a learning experience,” she said. “We had three employees, and we were the main appliance store in Comanche. It kept us very, very busy.”

When her sons were old enough to start school, Fails and her husband sold the business to their inlaws, and Fails took a job working in the special education department at Stephenville ISD as an office manager.

“I worked with all the logistics and the meetings,” she said. “We worked with speech pathologists and then we worked with the testing centers, and all these things that they utilized to make a difference for children with mental and physical disabilities. I liked knowing I was furthering their education.”

She later transitioned into the IT department in the school district. As the office manager, she worked in purchasing and took calls from people who needed help with their computers. Sometimes she could help them, other times they needed more specialized guidance.

“We were the first line of defense to answer any computer problems,” she said. “You got to learn a lot.”

After 17 years at Stephenville ISD, Fails took a job at Tarleton as an office manager in the Dean of Students office.

“We dealt with people who had money problems or traumatic things that had happened to them, and we also dealt with discipline,” she said. “It was good to be able to make students laugh when they were having a hard time. Just that little bit of communication I had with them made me feel like I was able to make their day better or help them resolve an issue they were having. It was very rewarding.”

Fails also decided to go back to school at Tarleton to finish her degree. She finished her bachelors in biology in 2015 and earned a masters in criminal justice in 2018.

Fails retired after 10 years at Tarleton. She was only retired for one month, though, when she went back to work at White Horse Christian Academy in Stephenville. “I really enjoy the group of kids,” she said. “They’re just really respectful and the atmosphere is wonderful.”

Fails has summers off, and she and her husband enjoy traveling, golfing and hunting when they have the time. They also breed Brittany hunting dogs, and are currently training their first litter of puppies. “We exercise them daily, and it’s rewarding to see them learn all their different commands,” she said. “They’re great dogs.”

Throughout her life, Fails has found inspiration in her mother, Mary Ann Stephen. “She was always just a go-getter,” Fails said. “She never let anything stop her, and had a really good attitude.”

Fails’ family has been in Dublin for three generations, and she’s proud of what she and her relatives have done in life — many have advanced degrees, and work as doctors and architects. “The sky’s the limit,” she said. “It’s unbelievable what people in our little group have been able to accomplish. The thought that people from a small town can’t achieve great things is a great falsehood.”

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.