Deputy Sheriff Don George has a big job with hours that change from day to day, but what doesn’t change is his love for Bishop Dunne. Sheriff George is donating his 50 year old letterman's jacket along with some other BD memorabilia, to the school. He graduated in 1965.
The jacket will be framed and hung in the boys’ locker room so current and future Falcon athletes can be inspired by the tradition that Don and others created for them. Mr. George has great memories of his years as a Falcon. “Our record was eight and two my senior year,” he said proudly. “I came by the school years later to visit and was told I could take any of the game film I wanted. I took the game we played against Lampasas, when we were predicted to be creamed by them, but we lost just zero to six. I had 19 tackles in that game as a middle guard!” he recalls.
Mr. George was one of four boys. The two older ones went to Jesuit, “but I don’t hold that against them,” he chuckles, and he and his younger brother Sam graduated from Bishop Dunne. “I was here in our very first years, and so we didn’t have any upperclassmen on our first few football teams. But we learned how to do traps, cross blocking, and little bitty Bishop Dunne made a name for itself. We were supposed to lose to Lewisville 27 to zero and ended up winning seven to nothing!” he recollects.
He has other happy football memories, including attending Dallas Cowboys games at the Cotton Bowl for a student ticket costing a dollar.
He came to Bishop Dunne from St. Edward’s Academy in downtown Dallas, which was located on Elm Street, and torn down about a year ago.
Upon graduation from Bishop Dunne Mr. George went on to college at East Texas State University. “That college is gone now too,” he says. “Only Bishop Dunne remains standing!”
He maintains he was just a “dumb jock” in high school, but learned how to work hard and be persistent from his time on the football field. Mr. George adds, “Coach DeCrosta was a remarkable motivator. He played for LSU before becoming a teacher and a coach, and he taught us well. Corky Campisi was on our team my senior year and we had a great time.”
A few years ago, when Coach DeCrosta was in the hospital, Mr. George took off from his duties as a courtroom bailiff in the George Allen building downtown and went to his hospital room to say goodbye. “I told him I loved him and that he changed my life, and said goodbye. I heard that he died four hours later,” says his former player wistfully.
Mr. George earned a degree in Health and Physical Education with a minor in History, and obtained an all-level certification to teach grades, K–12. “I had to take a lot of tests more than once to get through,” he says, “but Bishop Dunne taught me to write clearly, work hard, and be persistent. If I didn’t pass a test the first time, I’ll go study and then take it again.”
In his first job out of college he was asked to coach a girls’ basketball team. “I told the principal I knew nothing about basketball or girls, and he said I’d better learn. My team went to the district playoffs that year!” he laughs.
He spent many years doing polygraphs, first locally, and then in California for some retail giants. He also worked for a number of police departments. “The results of my polygraphs could get a man fired or reinstated to their job. I got people put in jail and got some out of jail. Through my work as a polygrapher I got to meet a man who saw the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and another who’d seen Adolf Hitler,” remembers Mr. George.
Being a polygraph tester led him to take the Civil Service Exam and become a deputy sheriff. Mr. George says, “Two hundred and fifty of us applied, and I was one of 16 who were accepted that year.”
A sprinter on the track team while at Bishop Dunne, later in life he became a marathon runner when his brother – in a wheelchair – completed one. Mr. George explains, “He had polio as a child, and was isolated for months at Scottish Rite Hospital. He started doing wheelchair marathons in the mid ‘80s, and I figured if he could do that, I could run one.”
He’s been working in Court Services for over two decades now, and enjoys his job, saying, “Managing the jurors, protecting the judges, it’s a fine job.” He admits most jurors don’t want to be there, so he uses his sense of humor to make their day better. He has no plans for retirement, even though his wife would love for him to take a break from work and travel. “She may talk me into it one day. I’d like to see Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon,” says Mrs. George.
Bishop Dunne thanks Mr. George for his long legacy of hard work and determination, and his donation to Bishop Dunne. The Bishop Dunne Falcons continue his winning legacy as the undefeated Falcons football team, with a 7-0 record, plays tonight at Earl Hayes Stadium. Homecoming festivities begin at 6:30 with Bishop Dunne Alumnae Tom Parma from the class of ’72 and Elizabeth Anne Corley from the class of ’74 inducted into the Falcon’s Hall of Fame at 7 p.m.
In addition, Super Bowl Champion Brian William’s high school jersey will be retired before the Bishop Dunne Homecoming game on October 24th. Williams was a key player on the Falcon’s football team the last time the school was undefeated and won the state Championship in the fall of 1990.
Information provided by Judy Porter.