A Bean Counter Wall Street Should Hire

By Robert R. Schwarz

 This interview was posted 

originally on May 1, 2014

"  I  believe your faith has to be everything that you're about"

" I married my guardian angel "

            Wall Street would profit by hiring Brian King . Some firms no doubt would curse the day this CPA worked on their books. And just imagine the Ponzi Scheme poster boy   Bernard L. Madoff  discovering that his newly hired accountant lights sacramental  candles in church for his clients . One can only speculate  how soon King would be fired after office gossip reached Madoff's ears that Mr. King  was a perennial neighborhood Santa Claus with the uncompromising belief that all humans are to love their neighbors as  themselves.   

        

The Bean Counter as Santa

    King, a lector and member of  the St. James parish in Arlington Heights, Illinois,  is neither your typical " bean counter "  ( his metaphor  for an accountant ) nor, for that matter,  your typical  Catholic Christian—if there is one. "I believe God sends me to people who need help ," he says. "If they want a reference,  I tell them to call my pastor."    King is a cheerful 56- year- old Certified Public Accountant  who loves to talk—his Irish heritage makes him a natural story-teller—which he regularly punctuates with bursts of laughter ; you want to believe he's never morose or petulant.  A perfect Santa Claus.   When we talked, he was in blue jeans and a dark blue sweatshirt and without shoes. He's a husky,  five-foot-eleven ,  blue-eyed , gradually balding man weighing —so he told me when asked—237 pounds. We faced each other across the dining room table of his pleasantly  furnished  two-story home ( his office is here  )  shared with  his wife Rita , a religion teacher at the nearby St. Viator  high school. 

            We   often stray from the topic at hand when King adds religious or spiritual footnotes to it, such as  details about his  accountant work:  " I  always  tell clients I can't meet with them before 9 a.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays because I go to church. They all know  I'm Catholic . Many of my clients are not Catholic . " A smile  forms on his Irish, St. Nicholas  face as he adds: "I refer to myself as a radical Roman  Irish Catholic extremist ."  Comes a burst of laughter .

            He describes his work as a " Rent-a-CFO " who helps companies and individuals make better decisions about tax matters and other financial matters with which they are struggling . " I get in there and roll up my sleeves. "

         

At home with his "guardian angel" Rita

   As for his Santa Claus role he's loved doing for the past five years, he says he "just enjoys seeing children's faces and listening to all the things that are important to them ."  He's also known in the neighborhood  as "the guy who hands out mint patties and popsicles.'' He's known so well that sometimes around the Yule holidays this Santa will just walk into a neighbor's home without knocking or ringing the bell. Santa Brian also visits retired people and makes the rounds at a downtown pub where, in earshot of the solitary  person drinking his problems away, he will remind everyone that
Christmas is about Christ and that "it's important that you know that God is always with you."

            He was six years of age when a cousin revealed to him  there was no  Santa Claus. " It was  kind of crushing, "  he recalls.  Today he tells his family, "You know ,  if you don't believe in Santa Claus, you don't get as many presents. "

            As a Christian and an accountant,  Brian met his greatest challenge  during the 2008-2009  national  economic recession  when he was the CFO of a company that had so far lost 40 per cent of its business. " It was pushing me to my extreme, " he says  .  He wasn't to blame, he says:  "They were happy I was there . " He was getting advice from banks,  business colleagues, friends, and the owners.  Brian knew  he had to make the right decisions; if not, many people would eventually be hurt by the company's " nasty turnaround. "  He was committed to making a decision without his own interests  in mind.

            He started attending weekday Mass at St. James and  lighting votive candles for the people for whom he worked.  The company soon  rebounded  and, Brian says, " nobody got burned and I was able to look in the mirror and say I made the right decisions.  "  From that experience , Brian learned an important lesson:  Whatever good he does in life is really not done by Him but through  him by God. 

He Married His Guardian Angel

            He emphasized that the "biggest accomplishment "in his life was marrying  Rita , his "guardian angel. "  The two met at a Labor Day party at  Rita's sorority when they were seniors at the University of Dayton ( Ohio ) . " We connected fast, "  he says. " We used to sit up talking in her sorority house until 3 a.m. "  One day when Rita and Brian were at a Dayton shopping mall, their conversation  turned to the topic of jewelry—rings to be specific. Next thing, Brian was telling  Rita, " Let me show you a ring I like. "

         

Seniors at their college homecoming party 

   The ring, of course, was to be Rita's engagement ring—if and when Brian could pay for it.  He used all his money for a down payment  and had to sell his college meal ticket to pay for  the rest. " Friends started buying me a donut for breakfast. " He was forced  to cut back for three months  on his meals , causing his weight to drop from 175 to 143 pounds. 

            The couple were engaged,  coincidentally ,   on St.  Joseph's  Day in 1979 , and several months later were on a jet to Bermuda for a honeymoon.

            After getting his B.A. degree in business from Dayton,  Brian later  earned his M.S. degree in taxation from De Paul University in Chicago.

            Brian's grandparents immigrated from County Mayo and County Galway , Ireland,  and eventually settled  on Chicago's South Side . His  grandfather  later owned a bar there  but moved the family to the North Side where he became a streetcar operator when his wife let it known she did want the children living above a bar.     Brian's mother died  when he was five , and Brian and his one sibling brother were raised by his father,  uncle, and aunt .   "It was  an Irish Catholic house and so it was pretty funny. "  ( He lets loose another burst of laughter. )  He claims his father   "was  one of the best role models any kid could have. "  Now 89, Brian's father and his uncle share a home in Arlington Heights.  "They still fight like two little boys, " he jokes.

            Brian and  Rita have three children:  Thomas ( named after Brian's uncle ), a 27-year-old accountant residing in Downers Grove; Colleen, 25, a catering and banquet event manager, and Kathleen, 28, a pediatric cardio intensive care nurse. The daughters live out of state.  " Rita and I always kept a unified front when telling the kids what to do or not, Brian says. "That  was the best way to raise them. "  Today his adult children believe their parents have some kind of mental  telepathy.   Brian quotes them:  " You guys can communicate without even talking. "

Challenges Keep Him Humble

            We talked more about his faith.  He says he has a "different faith pattern" than most people. When he's challenged by a life problem , he says he looks for God's role in it. "You know what , I see acts of God in everyday life. I appreciate every challenge because I think they keep me humble. "

          

With a Chinook Salmon he caught in Lake Michigan 

  His thoughts turned to charity :  " There's a mission for everybody to go out and help people. "  But , he added,   " There are those who cannot take care of themselves and those who choose not to. "  He referred to St. Paul's exhortation that people who refuse to work should  "not eat. "

            Though he claims he doesn't  "push" his beliefs  onto his clients,  he says he doesn't hesitate to  let them  know he's a Catholic.  "One of the most sincere things  I can offer is my background in being a Roman Catholic , because that's where my foundation is from a personal and business standpoint.  I  believe that your faith has to be everything that you're about ."   His favorite Bible verse  is spoken by Jesus  ( Matthew  6:3-4 ) : But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And our Father who sees in secret will repay you.

            Mr. King is obviously not a man restricted by a lot of  do's and don'ts . "I don't need  to  go  to church every morning . I go because I want to.  When in church I am as relaxed as I can be. Church is something I do for myself. My faith is  something I do for others.  My faith is something out in the street… I pray throughout the day. " He maintains that he's not going to Hell if he misses a Sunday in church. " I don't believe going to church is as important as keeping your obligation to God. ".  Nevertheless,  he and Rita always attend Sunday Mass. Brian is also candid  about his shortcomings,  such as acts of kindness to other drivers on  the road . "I'm not always good at it …I could tell you some really bad stories about myself. "

        

The King family at a surprise 25th wedding
anniversary. ( from left ) Brian, Colleen, Thomas,
Kathleen, and Rita. 

    Twice a year, he says, he goes to confession and has taken  it to Frs. Joji and  Gilbert .  He doesn't like to wait in a confession line "because it's like going to Wal-Mart." This could explain why  more than anyone he goes to his wife Rita with a confession, though he knows "it doesn't  count ."  He tells her  what is bothering him , but not those "deep dark secrets"  he "wouldn’t  tell to anybody but God ."  His wife  gives him " good  feedback . "

            Spending time with  Rita and , when possible, his children and grandchildren,  makes Brian the happiest. " Rita and I love to entertain…having people over to the house where we can just sit and visit. " His fantasy—and also goal—is to live some place where all of them could live close and  " I could  spend the rest of my   life having fun with my bride."   But he'd like that to occur outside Cook County   because of his increasing property taxes,  which he says he can't afford any more.  

            For recreation, this bean counter  hunts turkey near Spring Green, Wisconsin and fishes with a friend in Delavan , Wisconsin.  " I don't catch many fish because I spend too much time talking . " He loves smoked foods and Cajun and Creole cooking and also delights in cleaning the  house. " Rita says I'm the happiest when  I've got a bottle of Sparkle and a paper towel  in hand. "  For television,  he and Rita will watch "NCIS ", "Law & Order" ,  and  " Everybody Loves Raymond. " He likes to read war histories and recently read a book about the   Desert Storm  fighting in the Middle East.

            A lot of television news he won't watch . He gets angry when the reporting of certain news events remind him  of  the "moral and ethical decay" he sees in the American society.   " I really struggle with that," he says—so much that Rita won't let him watch certain news segments.  She's concerned that her husband  will someday "shoot the television set. "

            Citing the lack of compassion  some people have for others , Brian , his voice lowering,  says: " What we really need to do is become selfless, but I see more and more people  becoming selfish and self-centered ."

            When he dies,  he hopes people will remember him  for "making a difference  in some peoples' lives and never having taken advantage of anyone. "       

 

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