Charles T. Horngren: Mentor, Role Model, Colleague, and Friend

Abstract

This expresses the feeling of inadequacy of doing justice to the life and career of Charles Thomas Horngren. Chuck, the son of William and Grace Horngren, was born on October 28, 1926, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father worked for over 40 years as a railway mail clerk on the Milwaukee Road. His father was an avid baseball fan, a passion he passed on to his son. Chuck often reminisced about his dad taking him to the baseball games and meeting many of the day’s baseball luminaries. He also had a collection of baseball memorabilia, including Yogi Berra’s autograph in his book, Yogi: It Ain’t Over. . . , co-written by Chuck’s close friend, Tom Horton. Chuck graduated from Washington High School in 1944 and joined the Army. The Army sent him to pre-engineering classes at Ripon College and to engineering classes at what is today known as Texas A&M University. After over two years in the Army, Chuck enrolled at Marquette University and was elected to Beta Alpha Psi. While at Marquette he gained an appreciation for teaching after tutoring basketball players and disabled veterans. He graduated from Marquette as valedictorian in 1949 and remained very loyal to Marquette throughout his life. Upon graduation, he joined Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now part of KPMG) as a staff auditor. A year later, he taught full time at Spencerian College, a commercial business college,