Dublin graduate Sandra Beverly Burns has long been a friendly face in Stephenville. Whether she was working as a teller at First National Bank or helping plan services at the funeral home, she’s been a source of help and comfort to the community for many years.
Burns graduated from Dublin High School in 1973. During school, she worked part time at the Checkerboard, a dress shop in town. “I was a clerk,” she said. “I waited on people, helped undo the shipments that came in and helped decorate the store.”
She stayed at the Checkerboard for a year after graduating, then found a job at the Farmers First National Bank in Stephenville (now Bank of America) through a friend who worked there. “I started out printing checks, which was not fun at all,” she said. “The bats flew around back then in the third story.”
She soon moved to the note department, and then served as a teller. By the time she retired, after 38 years at the bank, she was serving as the teller operation specialist. “I did the scheduling, the training, I kept up with our key and combo log and kept the auditors off of us.”
Throughout her time there, the people she worked with were a source of joy for Burns. “I really enjoyed working with the college students,” she said. “A lot of the girls I worked with I consider my bank daughters.”
She also enjoyed interacting with customers. “I still stay in touch with a lot of them,” she said. “I made lots of good friends there.”
During her time at the Bank, Burns also took on a second job working part time at the Stephenville funeral home. “I tell people I am the official greeter and hugger,” she said.
Burns retired from the bank in 2012, and continues to work at the funeral home. She works as needed doing reception duties and helping out with visitations and funerals. “I plan to work there as long as I can, because I really enjoy helping people,” she said.
When she has free time, Burns enjoys traveling. She takes a girls trip once a year, and also visits friends and family. “I have my older sister’s two daughters who live in Colorado, so I go there quite a bit,” she said. “And then I have a friend that I went to school with who lives in Arizona, and I go there too.”
Burns also likes to take care of her horse and three dogs and her property on the Glen Rose highway. She loves to craft, too. “Right now I’m attempting rock painting,” she said.
Burns has one daughter, Marisa Burns, 45, who works at Tarleton. Burns’ parents, Clyde and Rosalie Beverly have both passed away. Burns’ sister Linda has passed away, and she has two other siblings, Judy Kennerly and Robert Beverly.
Burns enjoyed growing up in Dublin, especially the sense of community she found with her class. “I still keep up with quite a few of my friends that I went to school with,” she said.
Burns’ advice to Dublin graduates is to make their own decisions. “Do what you want to do,” she said. “Do what makes you happy, don’t mind pressure to go to college or things like that. Do what your heart tells you to do.”
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.