Where are they now?...Ryne Dunlavy

Ryne Dunlavy was one of Perryton’s favorites during his time in school here. He was polite, intelligent, pleasant and athletic. He blazed paths on the football and baseball fields, where he shined.

Dunlavy comes from a long line of success. His mother, Sheryl, is a gifted educator. His father, Gordon, is a talented home builder and owned a successful jewelry business in Perryton for years. His grandfather, Dr. Ernest Hardy, served Perryton in many ways his entire life, in addition to being an outstanding veterinarian. Perryton’s history was improved with both the Dunlavy and Hardy bloodlines and their contributions. The beauty of Mike Hargrove Field is due to the work of Gordon Dunlavy and Brian Diedrich.

Dunlavy graduated from Perryton High School in 2009. He was heavily recruited and played baseball at Rose State for two years. After baseball, he finished his higher education at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma. He graduated from SWOSU with a bachelor of science degree and an associates in science.

“After graduating in 2014, I remained in Weatherford for another year to help finish a house that I was hired to build. Once I finished there, I moved to Oklahoma City. In 2017, I married Desiree, whom I met while playing baseball at Rose,” Dunlavy said.

The couple now lives in Choctaw, which is just East of Oklahoma City. Dunlavy is employed at Timbercraft Homes. Desiree is a physical therapist who grew up in Oklahoma City.

“Timbercraft is a company that builds houses. My job title is production manager and I have worked for them for four and a half years. I began as a construction superintendent and about six months ago they promoted me to the production manager position,” Dunlavy explained.

The production manager position comes with much more stress. The most stressful part, according to Dunlavy, is managing 15 or more houses being built at one time. The best part of his job is easily identifiable. Dunlavy said, “The best part is getting to do what I enjoy, building houses.”

On an average day, Dunlavy visits each job site at least once to be sure that the schedule is on track. He checks to make sure the trades that are scheduled to be there are present and doing their jobs correctly.

“Once work is over, I come home and usually have something that I am tinkering with, it could be building some sort of furniture or working in the yard,” Dunlavy said. He comes by his skills naturally because both his father and grandfather displayed great talents in woodworking.

Getting a foothold in the competitive business has given Dunlavy obstacles to overcome. “The most difficult thing I have had to overcome in my career is gaining respect from other builders. Coming from Perryton where everybody knows everybody, it was difficult for me to get my name out there,” he said.

Dunlavy readily identifies the factors responsible for his success. He commented, “Some of the biggest factors that have helped me to become successful would be my parents constantly pushing me to work harder and to be the best person in the room. Another would be my high school coaches, especially Coach Merrell and Coach Cowan.”

Dunlavy also readily identifies one of the things he appreciated about Perryton schools and his education. The Spanish he learned to speak has benefited him. He must use that language to communicate with the majority of his trades.

He snickers a bit and says, “And I am by no means fluent in Spanish, but I know enough to get by on the jobsite.”

Dunlavy misses a couple of things about Perryton. One is helping his dad on either a house he is building or a project he is working on. He also misses just cruising around town with friends. His fondest memories revolve around his time spent on the gridiron and diamond playing football and baseball.

Where he sees himself in 10 years is a place that everyone who knows him and his family predicts will come to fruition by that time. He sees himself building houses for himself.

(If you have suggestions for articles you would like to read on former Perryton residents, please call or text Randy Skaggs at (806) 202-0187 or email him at rskaggsdvm@hotmail.com.)