County Magazine

Dana Applewhite and Dana Wallace-Applewhite share more than just a name. They have four boys and four grandkids and enjoy traveling. Perhaps most notable, though, they’re both employed by Titus County, the former as a commissioner and the latter as treasurer.

While many couples meet on the job, this one traces their story back long before they took office. They dated at Mount Pleasant High School before going separate ways. In 1998, after Wallace-Applewhite lost her first husband, she was looking for firewood for her son for Boy Scouts when she passed by a house with logs for sale out front. She didn’t know who owned the home, so when she inquired, she was surprised to find Applewhite at the door. The couple married the next year and have now been together for 25 years.

Applewhite took office in 2017, Wallace-Applewhite in 2023. They admit their shared names can be confusing on the job. Each often gets emails directed at the other. To simplify things, they go by Dana Jo and Dana Will, their middle names.

Wallace-Applewhite said it can be difficult sometimes to work together since her husband holds a political appointment, and they have to keep their responsibilities separate. They do enjoy lunch breaks at Two Señoritas, and sometimes Applewhite will stop by the courthouse to bring his wife a soda, but they make a point of not taking their work home and spend most evenings at the dinner table talking about their grandkids or travel plans.

“I kind of made a pact when I got here that we wouldn’t discuss work outside the courthouse,” Wallace-Applewhite said.

Both said they love working for the county and serving their constituents. “This is a great place to come and build family,” Wallace-Applewhite said.

In Chambers County, Brian and Heather Hawthorne also didn’t meet on the job. Long before he was sheriff and she the county clerk, they met at the county’s famed Gatorfest in 1995. She founded the event and was serving as entertainment chair. He was working security as a sergeant with the Department of Public Safety.

“I called him three stripes because he had three stripes on his uniform,” Heather Hawthorne said. “He definitely caught my eye because he was pretty to look at.”

The couple married in 2003. Eight years later, Brian Hawthorne retired from DPS and became interested in politics. He was encouraged to run for sheriff and was elected in 2012. His wife had been county clerk for five years. A longtime community leader, she thought her skills would serve her in government.

“For Heather and I, we truly take our professional positions to heart. We really believe that we are here to serve who elects us,” Brian Hawthorne said. “Both of us never shy away from a phone call whether it’s at midnight or on the weekend.”

Some of their most treasured moments on the job have been working together during disasters, including many hurricanes over the years. “Whether its evacuation or safety or setting up food tents, we have a true sense of teamwork in Chambers County,” Heather Hawthorne said.

Brian Hawthorne said he admires the way his wife can capture a room.

“She doesn’t say a whole lot, but what she says is very profound,” he said.

Heather Hawthorne loves how level-headed her husband is.

“He is awesome at remaining calm in every situation,” she said.

Their love advice:

“Don’t go to bed mad,” she said.

“Don’t make her mad,” he said.