On Sunday, May 2, 2010 we unexpectedly lost our founder – Bert Erling. We miss him every day.
Bert was president of Accountants One, and a partner in The Waters Organization. Every day he lived out the ideals of honesty, integrity, and long term relationship building. He was a long time member of IMA and a proud supporter of Junior Achievement. The Search for the Funniest Accountant in the South gave him great joy as we raised money for a great cause, and helped to share one of his core beliefs – that Accountants are so much more than humorless number crunchers.
Over the past few years Bert was critical in opening our Raleigh office. He made many trips up and down I-85—working closely with Brad Barbour, CPA as we opened our first out-of state office during a time when most were closing offices. He became a member of the AMA, the Triangle Area Chapter of the IMA, and worked with Junior Achievement of Eastern North Carolina.
Bert died of a massive heart attack. He would have been 67 years old on May 10. He lived a wonderful and full life, but we feel that he was too young to leave us.
He loved being a business man. Perhaps best described as an optimistic pragmatist, Bert had a strong faith in people’s ability to do great things. He would have been very proud to know that his companies are living out his ideals and seeing such great success.
