Dublin graduate Keith Ray Wright values community, and you can see that shine through in his career. From studying to be an EMT, to working construction for the US Infrastructure Company, to now applying to the police academy, the common thread in his life is his care for those around him.
Wright graduated from Dublin High School in 2018, and moved to Mount Pleasant to get his EMT certification. Wright knew he wanted to help people, but once he experienced the trauma that can come with an EMT job, he decided to go another direction. “I don’t think I had the stomach for it,” he said.
So he moved back to Stephenville for a little while and began doing electromagnetic inspection for oilfield pipes. While there, he met his wife, Kassidy.
After spending a few years in Stephenville, Wright got a job for the US Infrastructure Company as a foreman in the Metroplex, and moved to Justin, Texas to be closer to work. “I usually work about 50 to 60 hours a week, and I enjoy it,” he said. “We run all the infrastructure for pretty much everything — all the gas lines, water lines, sewer lines, fiber, anything that has to do with just getting everything online and up and running — that’s what we do.”
As foreman, Wright supervises an entire area of Hwy 114. “I run this entire area by myself,” he said. “All the projects that are coming in this area, they have to come through me before they can get started.”
Projects Wright has worked on infrastructure for include new apartments, shopping malls, restaurants, stores and more. “I have to touch every single job site before they can start building anything or putting anything in the ground,” he said. “We just make sure that all the infrastructure is safe.”
He appreciates the job for its good benefits, the freedom it offers and the trust the company places in him, but Wright recognizes that this job might not be a good longterm career. “They’re starting to hire a lot more younger people now,” he said. “There’s not a lot of older guys that can do what we do, just because it’s physically demanding. So there’s not much movement going upwards.”
Wright is currently planning a career shift that can help him provide long-term for his young family, and just applied for the police academy. “I’m just trying to find something that can be a career, so I can make enough money for my kid to do whatever she needs to do,” he said.
He chose the police force because of his community mindset. “I like helping anybody that needs help,” he said.
Earlier this year, he and Kassidy bought an old house in Justin, Texas, where they live with their one-year-old daughter Hyland Blake Wright. His parents, Kerry Hanes and Kim (Gilbert) Hanes moved away from Dublin. His grandfather, Arthur Gilbert Jr., passed away in 2024.
When he has free time, Wright is usually spending time with his family and working on renovating the house. “It’s 100-year-old house,” he said. “It’s one of the first houses built in Justin. It was a little bit out of date for our style, but my wife loved the bones of it, so right now pretty much all of our time outside of work is just hanging out with our daughter and remodeling our house.”
Throughout his life, Wright has found inspiration in his family and his faith. “My daughter and my family — they push me to better myself, do better for them,” he said.
Wright’s family and community have been rocks for him in life. “I’ve always had such a great support system around me, so I’ve been able to overcome pretty much anything,” he said. “When I was six years old, I got into a bike accident and had a major brain injury and had to pretty much relearn how to walk, talk, everything. So, growing up, school was a lot. It was really hard for me. One person that also probably helped me push past like everything that I had to deal with was Letha Northcutt. She was my biggest advocate when it came to getting over the hump in school and trying to do better as a person.”
Coach Bob Cervetto was also an encouraging person in Wright’s life. “Every morning I walked into school, Bob Cervetto would look at me and go, ‘All right, put your phone on my desk and head to tutoring.’ I could be passing every single class, and I would be in tutoring at 7 a.m. because he just didn’t want me spending time just fooling around.”
Wright’s advice to future Dublin graduates is something his parents told him. “My parents always told me, always have a good work ethic and care for everyone, and always be cool to the uncool,” he said. “Just be a good human.”
— Where Are They Now chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen. com.