"You were here when I was in school."  If Doug Wilson had a dollar for every time he heard that he would be a rich man.

Wilson, celebrating 50 years in the education business, has spent the last 46 years at Orangefield.  Not only as an educator but a renter of sorts.  Wilson is the lone homeowner on the district's property that used to feature a row of homes.

After graduating from Texas A&M with a degree in Industrial Education, Wilson, a Silsbee native, found work in Vidor.  He thought he would be there for his entire career until friend and colleague Moe Litton told him about an opening in Orangefield.

"I got a $500 raise after starting out at $3204 a year," he said.  Asked if he ever thought about leaving Orangefield during his time and he said, "Not really.  I was offered a job in Buna one time but my girls were cheerleaders here and wanted to stay in Orangefield."

Although Wilson may be retired as a teacher, he doesn't look all that different since teaching this writer some 25 years ago.  But in that time he has seen a lot of change and has had to change with it.  Starting as a draft teacher, he taught himself computers on an old Tandy and when the drafting classes faded away he moved into computer science.  Besides being a good teacher, he earned a lot of job security by doing extra jobs on campus that ranged from climbing a 35 foot light pole every Friday to film football games, to putting in the first security alarm the school ever had.  In fact the alarm was tacked to the headboard of his bed.  With that responsibility he also became the security officer and has caught his share of thieves and those looking to cause mischief.

circa 1984

Wilson has been retired from the classroom for almost six years but continues to be the jack-of-all-trades in the district.  In fact he had to wash his hands before our interview because he had been fixing door locks.

When he's not fixing something he may be making another batch of his famous peanut brittle.  "It's the best," said Superintendent Phillip Welch.  "In fact, (he looks at Doug as he opens his desk drawer) I'm just about through with this bag."

He also spends time with his three kids and 12 grandchildren.  His oldest daughter Buffie has three children.  Tina has four and his youngest, Doug has five including twins.  Wilson even knows something about delivering babies after delivering Tina in their mobile home.

Welch said besides Wilson’s handy man skills, he’s a school historian and also can offer some good advice.  “If we’re having difficulty making a decision around here you may hear one of us say, what would Doug do?”  I guess he could be mistaken for the other Wilson from Home Improvement fame, the next door neighbor who always had the answer to the question.  But there’s no fence separating the two, you just have to walk across the parking lot.