Faces of Fredericksburg 2024: January- Patrick Elliott
Towards the end of 2023, Steve and I were talking about doing some kind of creative portrait project. It just so happened to coincide with coordinating the construction of garage on our property, so we were talking to many contractors and construction folks. We found ourselves humbled by how hard they have to work — every day in the hot summers, rainy days, cold winters...you name it. There is just something REAL about these people.
There has been a lot of chatter lately about the trades and how we need young people to step into these “non-traditional” roles right out of high school. So we figured, let’s do our portrait project featuring some of these local craftsman that have big hearts, rough hands and no desire whatsoever to sit behind a computer 8-5. Cheers to them! We hope you follow along as we feature a different person every month. Feel free to shoot us a text or email with suggestions and a little bit about the person you are nominating. We’re looking for carpenters, plumbers, electricians, welders, fence builders, concrete guys, drywall installers, mechanics, HVAC, stone masons…. you get the idea.
Our inaugural trades professional feature is none other than Patrick Elliott!!
Even before his name was suggested/nominated (by several people), we were familiar with Patrick. He helped create a beautiful fence surrounding our pool after our “horror story” renovation a few years back. Anyone that knows him would agree he certainly fits the bill for big heart and rough hands.
You just have to take one look at Patrick’s hands to know what a hard worker is. Believe it or not, Patrick was originally a chef. Originally from Houston, he went to culinary school and worked in Austin. After chef burnout he went to work for Chris and Barry Kaiser as a cleanup guy. Over the next 13 years he learned carpentry from the Kaisers and Derrek Penick while doing architectural welding on the side — a craft he learned in 7th grade metal shop! (Let’s keep those trades alive!) Then spent the next few years creating all types of metal works for people in and round Fredericksburg with his company WeldWerks.
“I love to create anything with my hands. Only the medium changes. Food, wood, steel, concrete, dirt etc.” Patrick says. He currently has 4 rescue dogs and 2 cats at his house and has been adopted by 2 1/2 more strays that live at his shop full time. The extra 1/2 is for a ferrel guy that will let him get about 5' from him after 3 years of feeding. Patrick served on the board of the SPCA for 2 1/2 years with his wife, Jayne, who served for 7.
Patrick just recently sold his welding business admitting that sometimes you have to listen to what your body is telling you. He is now working full time for Dalgleish Construction, and still has the biggest heart ever.
