Day dedicated to the late Donald Fawcett, who first said ‘It’s Burnet, Durnet’
Members of the Burnet County Commissioners Court don their new “It’s Burnet Durnet Can’tcha Learn It” caps for a photo with Donald Fawcett’s widow, Bonnie, and daughter Janet Parker, the former county clerk. Fawcett, who died in 2023, coined the popular phrase about the pronunciation of Burnet and did a whole lot more for the community. Pictured with his family are commissioners Jim Luther and Damon Beierle, Judge James Oakley, and commissioners Billy Wall and Joe Don Dockery. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
The Burnet County Commissioners Court declared March 23, 2024, a day of service to honor the late Donald Fawcett, a beloved fixture in the Burnet community. He is known for his decades of dedicated service, support of the local youth, and generosity with chocolate milk. Oh, he’s also the man who coined the phrase: “It’s Burnet, durnet; can’t’cha learn it” — letting people know how to pronounce the city’s name.
The first-ever Donald Fawcett Day of Service on Saturday, March 23, raised over $20,000 and built 20 beds that were donated to the Marble Falls branch of the nonprofit Sleep in Heavenly Peace, said Precinct 2 Commissioner Damon Beierle.
The Commissioners Court unanimously approved the proclamation for the day of service during its regular meeting on Tuesday, March 26. Four members of the court — Beierle, Judge James Oakley, and commissioners Billy Wall and Jim Luther — grew up when Fawcett was with the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District.
“When you’re young, you form these memories, you have these special moments. And part of those, if you went to school at Burnet Elementary School, on a hot day, (was) getting invited to go into a cold dairy truck and get some cold chocolate milk,” said Oakley, choked with emotion. “I’ll never forget that. You’d say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Fawcett,’ and he’d say, ‘Name’s Donald.’”
Fawcett died in June 2023 at the age of 84. He served in the U.S. Air Force, delivered milk to Camp Longhorn on Inks Lake for 58 years, cooked for fundraisers, weddings, PEC events, and everything in between, drove the after-school bus for First Baptist Church of Burnet, and was “the best custom firewood cutter in the state,” according to the county’s proclamation.
His fried fish was also said to be “like no other.”