2014 Pillar of Success: Longtime CPA Builds A Ledger of Accomplishments
Targeted News Service |
From working the land on his family's ranch in northern
A descendant of one of the original pioneer families of
He says the story goes that, because she was a woman, "she was told, 'you can claim it if you can find it; just go north.' I'm glad about one thing - that she wound up on this side of the river," he laughed. Today, his own love of the land is reflected in his ranch in the Red Gate area north of
Vela, who went to work for the
As a teenager, he said, "I didn't know what I was going to do. Though I came from a family that many years before had been well-to-do, by the time it got to my granddad's generation, we were just a struggling family. I was born and raised on the ranch; my livelihood was there on the ranch, working, picking cotton, driving a tractor. But my mother kept saying, 'you need to go to college.' She just pounded and pounded that into me."
"So when I graduated from
"At that point, my dad made me the best offer I could have ever gotten from him. He told me that he couldn't pay for my school, that I would have to work my way through, but he said he would give me a place to stay and food to eat," recalled Vela. "Thank God that the university existed where it did, because I could not have driven even to
Instead, the highly respected CPA is enjoying a transition into retirement after more than four decades at Long Chilton, which has offices in
Vela's own interest in accounting was honed early on when he worked for the Guerra family of
"At Pan Am, my initial degree was going to be in industrial education - everybody talked about going into education back then - but I began to do some clerical work and liked it. I was just three hours short of my major in industrial ed when I changed to accounting."
He continued to work for the sprawling Guerra enterprise and went to school part-time until graduating in
During his senior year, he took advantage of the services of the University Placement Office and interviewed with several companies, including Humble. "I had several offers, but I took the Humble offer in
The special projects assignment came about after Vela was singled out for identifying a design deficiency at one of the gas plants that, when addressed, identified a significant loss of gas revenue for the company. "After a little over a year (at the
After several years at company headquarters, Vela decided he was ready for another move and was making plans to enter law school when he got a call from
Of his time with one of the region's top certified public accounting firms, Vela said, "It's been a hell of a ride. What I've enjoyed most are the partners we've had and the super staff that we've been able to form and maintain. There are no people better than the ones we have had throughout the years. That has made it worthwhile."
He added that, of all the decisions he has made over the years, the most rewarding was the hiring of
He also takes special pride in being appointed by a district judge in 2005 to bring a western
While building his exemplary accounting career, Vela has also shared his time and talent with many organizations throughout
He is a past chairman of the board of the
Throughout the years, he has stayed close to his alma mater, spending some 15 years as part of a volunteer team of professionals that presented free estate planning seminars to the public through the
But among his proudest achievements are his three children and seven grandchildren. He and his wife, Ester, are parents to
CC AutoTriage5rn-140320-30FurigayJane-4674031 30FurigayJane
Copyright: | (c) 2014 Targeted News Service |
Wordcount: | 1459 |
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News