It is with genuine enthusiasm, respect, and deep admiration that DeanHouston announces the retirement of Mary Ann Rafferty. After 26 years of loyalty and commitment to The DeanHouston Way, she has decided to embark on a new chapter in her life. Her new journey will begin in December 2023.
Except for our founder Dale Dean, no one has been with DeanHouston longer than Mary Ann. She joined the company on June 9, 1997, as a bookkeeper when we were only nine years old with only nine employees.
“Mary Ann is the sister of Karen Razo, our former receptionist who coincidentally also enjoyed a 26-year career at DeanHouston,” said Dean. “Karen introduced us to Mary Ann as we were looking for our very first bookkeeper. Upon meeting Mary Ann, we had no way of knowing if she knew bookkeeping or how good she was, but it didn’t matter, we immediately fell in love with her positive disposition, genuine kindness, and happy, radiating personality, so we hired her on the spot!”
Always reliable and the epitome of Whatever It Takes, Mary Ann has been with DeanHouston through our most challenging, hard-charging, and formative growth years. As part of her responsibilities, she handled all the time collecting and recording (and did it by hand!), all of the accounting and helped the company close the books at the end of each month and reconcile the end-of-year books. These were long, grueling 12-16-hour days, over the weekends and at year-end. During this time, Mary was known for pulling many, many all-nighters to meet tax deadlines. She embraced these days with the tenacity of a warrior and did it with a smile, which always made life pleasant around the office even in the most challenging times.
“It didn’t take long for us to discover Mary Ann’s incredible work ethic!” Dean added. “In those days, my typical schedule was to arrive at the office no later than 5:30 a.m. When Mary Ann realized this, she began arriving at 5:15 a.m. Not to be outdone, I moved my schedule to 5:00 a.m. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at 5:00 a.m. only to be met by Mary Ann’s signature, friendly, warm good-morning greeting. This schedule (who could get to the office earliest competition) remained for more than 25 years, a game I must add that I rarely won! Mary Ann is tenaciously competitive, so beware, she is a wolf in sheep’s clothing!”
Mary Ann was also instrumental in helping us research, explore and implement a modern accounting system at DeanHouston – which began with Adman and ultimately evolved into Workamajig. Her capacity to grasp the system was astounding, and she became our bonafide in-house Workamajig “Master.” She would even teach the consultants at Workamajig ways to utilize their own system and features when they were supposed to be providing us with training.
As of today, Mary Ann has worked in five different DeanHouston offices. She has seen us grow from an infant to a robust organization of nearly a hundred people. Most recently, she transitioned to the position of administrative assistant, where her unwavering commitment to doing whatever it takes has shone through in her consistent work ethic and dedication. And, after 26 years, Mary Ann is still the first person in the office each morning, ready to welcome you with a smile.
“We could have never built DeanHouston into the powerhouse it is today without Mary Ann. She is truly one of the founding members of this incredible organization, and I will always attribute that honor to her. I am enormously grateful for her contributions, positivity, whatever-it-takes attitude, tenacious work ethic, and devotion to our vision…all while being the most genuinely nice and wholesome human being one could ever have the honor to know. I will never be able to thank Mary Ann enough for all she has done for us,” said Dean.
While we will undoubtedly miss Mary Ann’s daily presence, we are excited for her as she embarks on this new journey. Retirement offers her the opportunity to explore her passions, spend time with loved ones, and engage in activities that bring her joy.
Please join us in celebrating Mary Ann’s remarkable career and wishing her all the best in her retirement.
Mary Ann, DeanHouston is your legacy, and you can be enormously proud that you helped to build it. Your example and legacy will continue to inspire everyone at DeanHouston for many years to come. May your retirement be as fulfilling and exciting as your years with us have been. Thank you!