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| Raul and his wife Gina, June 2006 |
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Raul Torres was born on February 6, 1955 in Robstown , Texas to Luis and Frances Torres. He is the youngest of five children in the family. He has four brothers and sisters: Luis, Elsa, Nelda, and Hector. He was raised by his grandparents, Felipe and Pilar Saenz up until he turned six years old. In 1961 he moved to live with his parents in order that he could attend school in Corpus Christi. A few years after moving to Corpus Christi, his parents were divorced. From that time on Raul joined the ranks of millions of children who were raised in a single parent home.
Raul had an ordinary childhood. He attended Crockett and Sam Houston Elementary, Baker Jr. High, and W.B. Ray High schools.
Raul began playing sports at an early age of nine years old. He played flag football, basketball, and track during the three years at Sam Houston Elementary.
In 1968, Raul was involved in a serious accident when he was hit by a moving car attempting to cross Horne Road with his bike early one morning before school started. He suffered a broken leg, several scrapes and bruises to this face and body. After a couple of months of healing Raul recovered completely from the injuries he sustained from the accident. Within the year, he starting playing little league baseball playing three years at Gulf Coast Little League on Gollihar Rd. He didn’t play competitive school sports again until his sophomore year at W. B. Ray.
At the invitation of a fellow neighbor, Raul was a walk-on to the sophomore Texas football team. He quickly became a starter on the defensive team. He continued to play football in his junior year on the Jr. Varsity team where he continued to star on defense. He sustained injuries during both years that prevented him from playing in every game, but in every game where he played in, the Texan football team won. Due to a broken left hand that would not heal, Raul had to undergo bone graft surgery to repair his broken wrist in the spring of 1972. Wearing a cast, wrapped with form padding, Raul played in the annual Red and White Spring Game where he performed so well he was promoted to the Varsity squad after the game.
During his senior year, Raul was one of the two starting defensive linebackers on the 1972 Varsity football Texan football team coached by Allen McCord. His football career was cut short when Raul was injured at Buc Stadium in the third game of the season in a game played against Robstown High School where he sustained a season ending tear to this ACL. Surgery was performed the following Monday and Raul was once again in a full leg cast for the next six weeks. Despite his injury Raul remained an active member of the Texan team attending squad practices and all the ensuring games. On the final week of the season, Raul had his cast removed and was given permission to suit up one final time with his fellow teammates. What a way to finish his short football career.
Raul completed his course requirements and received his high school diploma from W. B. Ray High School in May, 1973. He enrolled in Del Mar College in September 1973. In late October he met his wife of 33 years, Virginia Trevino during the annual Del Mar Halloween Carnival. From that night forward Raul and Gina were constantly together. Within the year they were married in San Diego, Texas.
For the next 15 years, Raul and Gina had four children, Amber, Kelly, Brandy, and Tarra. They purchased their first home, obeyed the gospel and became believers in Christ, became members of the local Church of Christ, and like most families strived to instill in their children the important values of God, family values, and the importance of education.
Raul returned to Del Mar in 1980 and in 1982 and received his Associates in Applied Science degree in Drafting. He joined the Wendy’s franchise in Corpus Christi in 1982 and worked as a restaurant manager. In 1984, Raul and his fellow management staff received the prestigious Wendy Award from Wendy’s International, Inc. In 1987, Raul was promoted to the position of Area Supervisor and served in that role until his departure in 1989. Due to an injury he received while working for Wendy’s, Raul could no longer work in the restaurant business so after some time without work, Raul and Gina decided that Raul should return to school and finish his Bachelor’s degree. Raul enrolled at CCSU in June, 1990 on a full-time basis. Raul and Gina’s long awaited son, Ryan was born on February 4, 1991. Taking out student loans and working part-time, he completed his course requirements and graduated in 1991 with a BBA degree with a major in accounting.
Raul began working in Houston, Texas on January 2, 1992 for the Texas State Comptroller’s office where he was hired as an Auditor. For the next six months, Raul commuted between Houston and Corpus Christi. During the week he studied for the CPA exam for four hours each night and on Friday he would return to Corpus on the weekends to be with his family.
He completed his training and began to conduct audits in the South Houston area. However, his mother, Frances became gravely ill in March of 1992. Due to employment policies that were in place at that time, the State refused to transfer Raul to Corpus Christi. Being give no choice he quit his job to return to Corpus Christi to help his sister and brother care for his mother.
After a period of unemployment of less than a year, Raul was hired as an auditor by the Nueces County Auditor’s office in April 1993. While working full-time, busy raising a family and with a new baby in tow, Raul enrolled at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi in the MBA program in June 1993. Raul received his MBA degree in December 1994 where he qualified to be on the Dean’s List for the Fall Semester.
On January 2, 1995. Raul began working for the Nueces County Community Action Agency as the agency’s first Personal Director where he remained employed until April, 2000.
Raul Torres, CPA is the owner of Raul Torres, CPA, a full service accounting and financial services firm which he began in 1993. In January 2001 he became the President of Freedom Tax Services, Inc., and began operations as a local Liberty Tax franchisee.
In addition to being a licensed CPA, he is also a President of a local Money Concepts Financial Planning Center and is a Registered Financial Consultant. He is a member of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants and the International Association of Registered Financial Consultants, Inc.
Raul is active in community service. He currently serves on the Loan Review Board for the City of Corpus Christi and previously severed as a member of the City’s Traffic Advisory Board for two years. He has been active for the past 22 years in local youth sports programs, local band booster clubs, and is a member of the Brawner Parkway Church of Christ.
Raul and his wife , Gina, have been married for 33 years and has five children, Amber, Kelly, Brandy, Tarra, and Ryan as well as four adorable granddaughters.
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