William Hancock’s life has had some ups and downs, and he spent much of his adult years incarcerated. Now out of prison and nearly 20 years sober, Hancock is now enjoying life as an electrical engineer and prison minister. “Instead of burning bridges, I’m building them,” he said.
Hancock attended Dublin High School through tenth grade, when he was arrested for the first time and served several months in jail. He spent the next four decades in and out of prison; his longest sentence was 28 years and ten months, and he was released on April 20, 2023.
“I put my time to good use while I was down there,” he said. “I got two associate’s degrees, one in electrical technology and one in computer information technology.”
Upon his release in 2023, he found a job at Electric Distribution and Design Systems, a Dallas-based company that installs generators, solar panels and windmills. Most clients are residential, and Hancock sometimes installs as much as three generators in a week.
The owner of the company, Tommy Edds, works in prison ministry on the side, and now Hancock is involved. “I go back in and minister to prisoners and show them what you can do as long as you have God on your side,” he said.
Hancock is grateful he found a job that was willing to take a chance on him despite his arrest record. “I plan on working here until Tommy gets rid of me,” Hancock said. “I plan on staying right where I’m at because he gave me the chance. I’m gonna prove to him that I’m gonna make it.”
Hancock has another career goal on the side. His father passed away several years ago, and Hancock inherited some land between Dublin and Stephenville. In the next few years he hopes to turn the land into an RV park.
“You’ve got plenty of time to read down there in prison, and so I was reading about RVs,” he said. “I’ve already bought an RV since I’ve been out, because I knew if I lived in an RV, it’s gonna be cheaper. And that’s what I did. I went to a sober living facility right at first, and then I stayed there six months, and I saved up my money and I bought an RV and moved into an RV park. I knew that that was the way to go, because it’s going to be hard for me working for somebody else because of my record. And I figured, hey, I’ve got to do something where I don’t have to answer to nobody but God.”
When Hancock has free time, he enjoys fishing and working with leather. “I was doing leather work in prison,” he said. “They have a craft shop down there. I was building saddles and billfolds and purses and belts.”
Hancock now lives in Grand Prairie with his girlfriend Mary Gast. He has a daughter, Jennifer, from a previous relationship, and two grandchildren, Maylea, 17 and Payton, 11.
Throughout his life, Hancock has found inspiration from his family friends, Lane and Jan Jones, who have now passed away. “Whenever it came at them, [Lane and Jan] were steady and he always looked at God,” Hancock said.
Their family, including Becky Reeder, Theresa Wall, Lance Jones, Nicky Jones, have also been important in Hancock’s life. “They’re like brothers and sisters to me,” he said. “Whenever I started getting in trouble, I moved out there on the dairy farm and stayed out of trouble. And then I decided I wanted to go back to Fort Worth because I wanted to smoke dope and do drugs.”
Now that he’s out of prison, he’s grateful for their lasting friendship. He’s also grateful for his choice 20 years ago to get sober. “I’ve been sober since November 4, 2004,” he said. “I was in prison, and everybody says, ‘Well, you’re locked up. It’s different when you get out.’ No it ain’t. If you just put it in your mind you’re not going to do it anymore, that’s all you’ve got to do.”
Hancock’s advice to Dublin graduates is to believe in themselves and stay strong in their faith. “Don’t let nobody tell you you can’t do something, because if you put it in your mind that you can do it, you can overcome anything,” he said. “And keep God first.
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, emailpublisher@dublincitizen. com.