Local icon Jack Dahlstrom (above, center) was one of the most influential highway contractors in the state, helping create the massive Dallas road infrastructure in the 1960 and ‘70s. Although it’s said that Jack never had the desire to pilot one himself, at one point the Dahlstrom Corp. counted 21 airplanes in its fleet. (Photo courtesy of the Dahlstrom Family)
by BRENDA STEWART
It has been said that all roads lead home, and for road builder extraordinaire Jack Dahlstrom, the adage could not be more apt. Through mountains and national parks, triple-deck highway interchanges to ship channels, for more than 20 years the Dahlstrom Corp. had a hand in some of the largest construction projects in Texas.
Born in 1928, Dahlstrom moved to Buda when he was 5 years old, his father raising livestock and farming the family land for a living. The Dahlstrom clan was of meager means, according to a 2008 essay by wife Gay.
“They say children of poor families don’t know they are poor, but he did,” Gay wrote. “His family used an outhouse long after others had indoor plumbing. They used a wooden stove and kerosene lamps while others began to use electric stoves and electric lights. Others even had refrigerators instead of ice boxes.”
Jack and his sister Betty grew up in Buda and attended local schools, where he met Gay in the third grade. “He chose her, then and there, to become his wife,” Gay wrote, although “she didn’t know it.”
Jack Dahlstrom and Gay Ruby dated through high school – he was a star football player, she was a cheerleader. Before one game, Jack decided to paint the Buda Bulldogs’ team helmets red. But because he didn’t allow enough time for them to dry completely, everyone on the field was painted red that night. After Jack graduated, he returned to Buda High and helped Gay compile the first Buda High School yearbook by taking photographs and selling ads.
After high school, Jack joined the Navy ROTC, attended the University of Texas for a year and, the following year, married his childhood sweetheart, two weeks after her 18th birthday. The Dahlstroms had three children in three years. His father-in-law secured Jack a job as a surveyor for Allan Construction Co., and the road to his future was paved. In 1959, the couple’s youngest daughter was born.
Dahlstrom then joined forces with Gay’s brother Jim and father-in-law Cecil Ruby. In 1968, he bought Ruby’s interest in the Cecil Ruby Co. and formed the Dahlstrom Corp. Moving his family to Dallas, Dahlstrom was involved in massive construction projects throughout Texas, including 90 percent of the Interstate 635 loop in Dallas and all the site work at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
A decade later, the Middle Eastern oil embargo hit and although Jack bought trucks and lined them up at the refineries, Dahlstom Corp. being completely dependent on oil in all aspects of the road business, was hit hard and was never able to recover from it. Never considering bankruptcy, Jack worked for eight years to complete his fixed-bid contracts for the bonding company that took over his business.
“They couldn’t save the world of roadwork,” Gay wrote. “And they couldn’t save the life (Jack) loved. And, one day, they were gone, the business and the life he loved.”
In 1989, Jack and Gay Dahlstrom made it full-circle as the road of life led them back to Buda. Jack continued building roads, subcontracting for a while and then doing some farming and ranching.
Two years ago the family set aside its 2,254-acre Dahlstrom Ranch for conservation. Bisected by Onion Creek, the ranch is considered vital to water quality through its system of caves and sinkholes that convey rainwater to the Edwards Aquifer. The family also donated the land on which Dahlstrom Middle School sits, in honor of his father, Eric Dahlstrom, a trustee and member of the Buda School Board.
Jack Dahlstrom, 83, died Feb. 2. He had battled illness for many years. In her 2008 essay, Gay recalled that Jack never wore blue jeans, and she wrote about her reaction the first time she saw him in khakis.
“Oh my, she thought as she looked at him, he takes my breath. And that he did.”
