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Pecos County Precinct II celebrates two long term employees
By Sharon Roosevelt
Pioneer Staff Writer
Pecos County is fortunate to have loyal employees who stay with the county for long periods of time. Commissioner Precinct II celebrated two such employees Thursday with a luncheon at the precinct yard.
Jimmy Velasquez began working on roads and bridges for the county twenty years ago, when M. R. Gonzalez was County Commissioner. Thursday, newly elected commissioner Juan Rodriguez presented Velasquez with a pin commemorating those twenty years of service.
The 1978 graduate of Fort Stockton High School is married to Luciana, and they have two children. Jimmy, Jr. is 22 and works in the oil fields. Jacqueline, 21 is in college at Angelo State University.
Before joining the county crew, he worked in gas stations here in town.
Velasquez likes to travel when he is not working or on-call for Precinct II, or working at his second job. He works at the Recreation Center with the children's basketball program in the gym. "I'm not really into sports, except with the kids," he said. "I'm looking forward to working with this new commissioner," he said.
Betty Brinegar received a pin recognizing her five years of working with Pecos County. She grew up in Grandfalls, but moved to Fort Stockton in 1999. Before working for the county, she was a high speed test driver at the Firestone Track and at the Pecos Track. "The first few times on the track, it was 'white knuckles' all the way," she said.
Brinegar has five children. Wade Friesen, 46, is a department head with MRI Hospital in Austin. Joe Rogers, 42, is a police officer in Midland. Her daughter, Beth Brandenburg, is a "domestic engineer." Her son Jack is a computer programmer and lives in Connecticut. John, the youngest, is a mechanic in Midland. There are twelve grandchildren and three great grandchildren, "But you aren't going to ask me to name all of them, are you?" she asked.
"I love my job here, and I think it is going to be even better with Juan as commissioner," she said.
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