Nancy Faulkner • Cedar Park

Nancy Faulkner • Cedar Park

By Kathy Lesko Tuesday, 07 November 2006

For someone who collected her first paycheck at the age of 41, Nancy Faulkner probably experienced more during her 29 years as secretary for the City of Cedar Park than most people do in an entire professional lifetime.

Nancy and her husband, a career Marine, arrived in Cedar Park in 1968, when the population was only 2,500 and US 183 was a two-lane road.

“We bought a half-acre of land,” she said, “because we needed something large enough to hold our double-wide trailer.”

As a military family, they had lived in North Carolina, Georgia and California before her husband retired from active duty to assume a recruiting position.

The change allowed them to return to their native Texas, and they were excited at the prospect of raising their teenage children near family. Their joy was cut short, however, when Nancy’s husband, while on a recruiting trip, was thrown from a horse and died.

Nancy was only 38 and faced an uncertain future.

“I saw the mayor on occasion at the little grocery store in town, and repeatedly offered to help in the office if they needed it; just to keep busy,” she said.

One night a call came asking if she might be available to take minutes at a City Council meeting that evening. And so began her long career with the City of Cedar Park. Nancy worked with 13 city managers, 12 mayors and 72 council members, and probably knows where most of them are today. She said her ability to collect and archive information made her an asset to the city.

Multitasking became an important part of her job as a small town city secretary. She could collect bill payments, type up meeting minutes and even run outside and start the fire engine so it was ready to go once the volunteers arrived – all without batting an eye.

Just as important as her responsibilities were her co-workers. Many evenings her trailer served as the setting for a home-cooked meal of chili and cornbread for those Nancy considered her second family. If someone couldn’t make the meal – like the municipal maintenance workers who were on a call – Nancy would drive around Cedar Park until she found them so she could make sure they ate, as well.

In 1999, Nancy retired from her position as secretary. Her walls at home are adorned with mementos from her time working for the city including a congratulatory letter sent to her upon her retirement from then Texas Governor George W. Bush. An old electric typewriter – which still works – sits on a desk in her spare bedroom, a reminder of some of the happiest days of her life.

One city council member summed up Nancy during an event held in her honor by saying “If you cut her, she’d bleed Cedar Park.”

A Commitment to Community Involvement

During her tenure as secretary for Cedar Park, Nancy Faulkner became a fixture on the boards of many local organizations. They include:

• Cedar Park Heritage Society
• Cedar Park Chamber of Commerce (received 1992 Community Service Award)
• Cedar Park Leander Optimist Club
• Cedar Park Rotary Club (voted 2003 Rotarian of the Year)
• Greater Williamson County YMCA
• Hill Country Community Ministries
• Meals on Wheels
• Travis State School Community Services
• Williamson County Literacy Council