Notable North Texans share favorite memories of their fathers

It’s a tough job being a father, but also a labor of love.

When we fall off our bike on our first try without training wheels or jump the curb our first time behind the wheel of his car, a father extends a steady hand and the encouragement to try again.

He is the biggest cheerleader on the sidelines of ball fields and sports courts, paying close attention as we navigate the journey of life with its many challenges, punctuated by extraordinary victories and crushing defeats.

He doles out advice and stern warnings we sometimes ignore. But when we fail, he reminds us that he still loves us.

He is a father, the man who provides us with strength, reassurance and confidence. When he embraces us, we know everything will turn out OK.

As we honor our fathers this month, we recognize the role models they are for us, the sacrifices they made on our behalf and the path they led us along toward our success.

Doug Dunbar

Doug Dunbar is co-anchor of “CBS 11 News” at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. As dedicated as he is to delivering the news that affects the community, he’s equally committed to making an impact on it. In 2016, he competed in the Ironman World Championship triathlon in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, as part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program and raised $156,000 for the fight against blood cancers.

He has been recognized with numerous professional awards, including a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for reporting on a group of local D-Day veterans returning to Normandy, France. He is an accomplished pilot, national champion barefoot water skier and a father of two. His father, U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Clarence Dunbar, died before the journalist turned 6 years old.

How did your father influence your life and help you become a success?

It’s interesting, how big an influence my father was, despite never being there past age 6. My father died in Vietnam in 1969. Despite the hurt and sorrow over our loss, my mother consistently spoke to me through the years about my father’s love and respect for others and about the love they shared. Showing love and respect was the foundation to a life well lived. I have lived a lifetime of influence from my father, through my mother and through the photos I cherish to this day — of our family, and his service. A clear understanding from the man, who I shared very little time with, that everything begins with love and respect. My father helped me become a success by setting an example of a loving, respectful, loyal, and caring man to my mother, to me, and to those he knew and loved. All I needed to do was listen to his voice, which was always by my side.

Please share an important or inspiring memory of your father.

It’s the only one I have, and as such, it’s the most cherished memory I will carry with me my entire life. Six months prior to his death in Vietnam, my mother saved enough money for us to meet him in Hawaii. It was halfway to Vietnam. I remember playing with him in the ocean, diving into the waves, smiling, laughing, and running up and down the beach. War was never on my mind. I had no concept. Now as a father, I can’t imagine what was on his mind at the time knowing he would leave his little boy and head back to the place where evil existed. What we never knew was that he would never return. It was the last time I saw him alive. We spent a week in Honolulu, and that must now last me a lifetime.

Gwenn “Cissie” Bragan Walden

Gwenn Bragan Walden is known as “Cissie,” a nickname her father, Bobby Bragan, gave her as a child. Bobby Bragan was a Major League Baseball player, manager and coach. Bragan played seven seasons during the 1940s as a shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies and then as a catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He also spent time in the minor leagues, which brought him to Fort Worth in 1948 to cut his teeth as a manager of the Fort Worth Cats. Bragan went on to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves. Later, he held top leadership positions with the Texas League and the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues.

He founded the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation in 1991 to provide college scholarships and encourage Dallas-Fort Worth youngsters to attend college. He remained CEO of the foundation until his death in 2010.

How did your father influence your life and help you become a success?

My dad influenced my life in so many ways. He extended my vocabulary by playing spelling and vocabulary games at dinner, and we’d play 20 questions. That taught us about so many different things. Mostly Daddy taught us to live by the Golden Rule and to treat all people with courtesy and respect. We learned to treat a servant with the same respect as a master. The trash collector was just as important as the bank president. Daddy’s lesson was, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all!” He was funny and gentle and loved to sing and play the piano with us. He taught us all his songs and how to play the piano. He was strong, loyal and generous and he expected the same of us. I was really blessed to have such a loving father. Everyone who knew him considered him a true friend.

Please share an important or inspiring memory of your father.

Daddy was always ready with a smile and a handshake to the many strangers who would come up to our table when we were out at dinner or maybe at an event. He carried baseball cards with his picture and would sign the autograph they asked for and give them a ballpoint pen with the words “Giving is forever” printed on it. He never was annoyed or bothered by the interruption and always felt grateful that people wanted his autograph and wanted to meet him. He was an inspiration by the way he lived his life. He was an example of love and fairness to your fellow human beings. You can’t watch this behavior and not be touched and blessed by it. I feel his entire life was one to be proud of. He always said he felt so lucky that he had been able to do what he loved all his life. He gave back every day and inspired the rest of us to be our best. I will forever miss his support and optimistic attitude toward life and I strive everyday to live like he did.

B. Glen Whitley

Tarrant County Judge B. Glen Whitley is the county’s chief elected officer, presiding over the commissioners court of a county with 2 million residents. A graduate of Grand Prairie High School, he earned an accounting degree at the University of Texas at Arlington and served in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He is co-founder of Whitley Penn Financial Services, with offices in Fort Worth, Dallas and Houston. He served as county commissioner for Northeast Tarrant County for 10 years before being elected county judge in 2006.

Whitley’s father, Benjamin Franklin Whitely Jr., grew up on an East Texas farm and lived off the land. After joining the Navy with his twin brother during World War II, the elder Whitely remained in the Navy 20 years, stationed mostly at the former naval air station in Grand Prairie. He retired as a chief warrant officer and worked an additional 24 years for the General Services Administration.

How did your father influence your life and help you become a success?

My father worked hard at whatever he did, and I saw that when I was young. It made a big impression. I was impressed with how my dad got people around him to do things, but then, he always told me, “Never ask someone to do anything you would not do yourself.”

Please share an important or inspiring memory of your father.

He told me to always give back to your community. I make an effort to practice that on a daily basis. My father always travels with me.

Armin Mizani

Armin Mizani is a personal injury attorney who owns Mizani Law Firm in Dallas. A graduate of Michigan State University, he moved to the area in 2012 after graduating from Michigan State University College of Law. He was elected to the Keller City Council in December 2014.

How did your father influence your life and help you become a success?

My father, Hamid Mizani, has been and continues to be my role model. He, along with my mother, instilled in me the values of working hard, dreaming big, treating others with respect, and having compassion for your neighbor. Growing up as the oldest of five boys, I would remember my father leaving for work early in the morning and coming back late at night. Every night, no matter how tired he would be or how his day went, he spent time with the family going over our day and encouraged us to aim and dream higher. The sacrifices he made for our family, the work ethic he’s demonstrated, and the values he’s instilled in us have influenced who we are and who we can become as husbands, fathers, and members of society.

Please share an important or inspiring memory of your father.

My father came to the United States from Iran in 1977 in search of the “American dream.” Encouraged by his father, he came alone with little to no money in his pocket and enrolled at the University of Kansas. To pay for school, he worked several jobs as a janitor and as a lab tech. While some of his classmates had the luxury of taking the night off to study for exams or going out with their friends, my father did not have such a luxury. At times, he would have to drive an hour-and-a-half away from campus to work late-night shifts and come back just an hour before his morning classes. The “American dream” that I subscribe to is the idea of leaving your family with a life better off than the one lived yourself. Because of the opportunities afforded to him and the sacrifices he made, I am proud of my father for achieving his version of the “American dream.”

Carlos Arevalo Jr.

Chef Carlos “Flaco” Arevalo is co-chef of FnG Eats in Keller, a restaurant that specializes in locally sourced dishes made from fresh food from the Keller Farmers Market and others. The restaurant serves brunch, lunch and dinner and is known for its creative and innovative dishes inspired by home-style favorites. His father, Carlos Arevalo Sr., worked in a small convenience-type grocery store to support his family in El Salvador.

How did your father influence your life and help you become a success?

My father was very understanding and a role model to me. He taught me to be passionate about what I do. Everything I am now is because of him. He worked very hard every day, seven days a week, to care for our family of eight children. He was so hard-working and never stopped, but he got things done.

Please share an important or inspiring memory of your father.

I will always remember the look on his face when my daughter was born in 1997. He was so proud.

Mike Berry

As president of Hillwood Properties, Mike Berry led the development of AllianceTexas, an 18,000-acre development that is recognized as one of most unique master-planned communities in the United States. A fraternity brother of Ross Perot Jr. at Vanderbilt University, Berry joined Hillwood in 1988 as construction was beginning on Alliance Airport. Under his leadership, AllianceTexas now encompasses more than 43 million square feet in the north Fort Worth/Keller area, has more than 470 corporate residents, 47,500 employees and 10,000 single-family homes. The development has had a $64 billion impact on the North Texas economy. A Fort Worth native, Berry also heads the Hillwood Urban division. His father, Sam Berry, was a stockbroker.

How did your father influence your life and help you become a success?

My dad, Sam Berry, most influenced my life by instilling in me a strong work ethic. I had a job from the age of 14, when I wasn’t in school. [I worked in a] grocery store as a sack boy and then cashier, in residential construction, a lumber yard, concrete company, as a beer distributor rep, and bank teller until I graduated from an MBA [master of business administration] program and moved into real estate. He also taught me the importance of being nice to people and building relationships, which is still part of my core principles to this day. He also put a huge emphasis on the importance of education, which is why I ended up at Vanderbilt University for my bachelor of science degree and TCU for my MBA — both very critical to the success I have had in business.

Please share an important or inspiring memory of your father.

During the last years of my grandmother’s life, he would go by her house every day to check on her. That has always been something I remember … the importance of family and his thoughtfulness and willingness/commitment to help.

This story was originally published June 14, 2017 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Notable North Texans share favorite memories of their fathers."