our community: JEANE BRUNSON
Lady of Leisure?
That’ll Be The Day
By MEL W RHODES
Parker County’s long-serving county clerk
begins retirement with purpose and plans
I
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t’ll take some getting
used to, and she’s
already missing her
coworkers, but as of
Dec. 31, 2018, Jeane
Brunson is officially
retired. After serving 25
years and 11 months as
Parker County’s County
Clerk, the 67-year-old is
beginning a new chap-
ter in her life. Asked
if she has retired to a
life of leisure, Brunson
chuckled.
“I wouldn’t dare retire
completely,” she said.
“I would drive everyone
around me insane. I
think something has to
be moving and going all
the time.”
Brunson said she
currently is caring for a
dear friend of 16 years
who has been diag-
nosed with a rare kind of cancer. “I’m here to take care
of him as well as I possibly can, and where it goes from
there is not up to me [but God],” she said. She also plans
to travel to refresh and deepen relationships with her chil-
dren and grandchildren.
Born in the Denver and raised on a ranch “in the
middle of nowhere Colorado,” Brunson moved to
Weatherford Aug. 3, 1983, after marrying a Texan in
1982.
While working in the county judge’s office, she and
several others applied to be appointed to finish out
County Clerk Carrie Reed’s term. Reed had decided to
retire after serving some 17 years in the elected office.
Brunson received the nod and Feb. 1, 1993, she took the
oath of office, beginning a career that spanned a quarter
century of Parker County life.
“I’ve been through five judges,” Brunson said with a
laugh.
Asked why she sought the position, Brunson said,
“Well, I had been encouraged by several people, includ-
ing Carrie Reed, the retiring county clerk, and it was an
opportunity for me. I love Parker County. I knew that the
county clerk’s job was very important, and Carrie had
convinced me that I needed to be there and that I could
do it.” She did do it, successfully running for office every
four years.
The county clerk’s office handles massive amounts of
legal paperwork for the citizens and courts of the county,
recording everything from births to deaths, marriages and
divorces, business openings, DBAs, land sales, misde-
meanors, condemnation suits, liquor licenses … the list
goes on.
“When people look at the county clerk’s job from the
outside, it looks to be very easy,” Brunson said. “It’s not.
There is a lot to that position.”
As might be expected, over her nearly 26 years as
county clerk, Brunson witnessed many changes. When
she started, the office accepted money over the counter
and placed it into a national cash register. “I’ve wished