Relating to celebrity status

From right to left, Catherine Gumieny, president of New Berlin Redi-Mix, stands with her daughters Mary Gumieny Bultman, Barbara Gumieny Killey and Donna Gumieny Urich in front of one of the company’s pink and blue cement trucks. Photos by Lawrence Silver

Carl Jakubowski joined Fond du Lac-based C.D. Smith Construction 20 years ago.

But it’s only been since 2006, when his nephew, Tony Romo, became the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, that he gained true celebrity status within the company.

“It draws attention to you,” said Jakubowski of being the uncle of a National Football League star. “It’s kind of neat because I will still get guys from C.D. Smith who ask me, ‘Are you really Tony Romo’s uncle?’ It doesn’t end.”

Life in and outside of work for Jakubowski has altered some, since Romo, the son of his sister, Joan Romo, became a star in the NFL. Jakubowski, who grew up in the Racine area and moved to Fond du Lac to attend Marian College, has hobnobbed with celebrities and attended football games across the country.

He said he enjoyed taking his daughter to a Cowboys vs. Lions game last season in Detroit, where his nephew threw the winning score with 18 seconds left in the game.

But perhaps even more exciting, Jakubowski said, was his opportunity to meet American Idol winner and Romo ex-girlfriend Carrie Underwood. Underwood attended the 50th birthday party of Romo’s father Ramiro, Jakubowski’s brother-in-law, in Burlington, a little more than a year ago.

Jakubowski said he initially wasn’t going to make the trip from Fond du Lac to Burlington because of snowy weather. But he said he decided to attend the celebration when his sister said the famed country singer would be singing “Happy Birthday.”

“I told her, ‘I’ll be there,’” Jakubowski said. “‘I don’t care how much snow there is.’”

Aside from meeting celebrities and traveling across the country for football games, Jakubowski said having a relative in the NFL gives his family weekly opportunities to come together during football season. He said family members often gather at his sister’s or brother’s house because they each have large projection TVs.

“It’s like watching a Packer game,” Jakubowski said. “You’re pulling for a team.”

Speaking of the Packers, Jakubow-ski said he was a fan of the Green and Gold before Romo signed with the Cowboys. He said his shift in loyalties since then caused some friendly animosity between friends and especially co-workers.

Jakubowski said he attracts particular attention when he dons his Cowboys jersey around the Fond du Lac area on days when most are wearing Green Bay garb. He said back-and-forth banter got particularly rough when he attended a Packers vs. Cowboys game-day party this past season.

The Cowboys won the game 37-27.

“You get a lot of ribbing,” Jakubowski said. “But when you end up winning, you get the last laugh.”

Jakubowski said his love affair with the Cowboys will likely sunset, however, with the end of Romo’s career.

“As much as I have always been a Packer fan, I have had to jump ship for the last couple of years,” Jakubowski said. “I’ll go back once Tony is done.”

— Lawrence Silver