Think about it.
Can there be a better setting for a father and son to have a post-college heart-to-heart conversation other than under a car changing its oil?
Accountant? Or accountant and mechanic?
Steve Wharton was graduated in 2003 from Wheeling Jesuit University with a BS degree in Accountancy, and that’s when he found himself at his professional crossroads. Should he seek employment at accounting firms? Or should he join his father, Ohio County Commissioner Randy Wharton, at his auto service business in Elm Grove?
As fate would have it, opportunities surfaced quickly and in May 2006, Wharton joined The Glessner Group and became a Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Global Management Accountant. He became a partner in Glessner & Associates in 2018, and he’s also a partner in Glessner Wharton Andrews.
But that’s the business side of life. The fun for him and his bride, Ashley, though, most often comes in the forms of their two, six-year-old sons, Parker and Tatum, and youngest son Camden.
When you were a high school student, did you want to live in Ohio County during your adult life?
When I was in high school, I wasn’t real sure where I wanted to live. The opportunities that arose after college to gain experience in my major (accounting) with another local firm – and then with Glessner & Associates – were too good to pass up.
Not to mention right after college, I briefly worked for my dad at his gas station and a small part of me thought that I was going to take over for him before those opportunities arose.
Why numbers for a career?
I chose accounting because it is the backbone of a business – not to mention small businesses such as my dad’s auto shop. I figured if I could master that area it would make it easier to run almost any type of business.
What are your and your wife’s favorite activities to do with your children in the Wheeling area?
We enjoy sporting events such as the Wheeling Nailers and any activities that may be going on around Wheeling that get us outdoors. We have twin 6-year-old boys, so it is important that we keep them moving and engaged in things.
What about you? When you were a child? What was your favorite “thing to do” in the Wheeling area?
This is a good question. Not so much about Wheeling specifically, but I was constantly outside with friends playing sports and doing other activities. We would go ice skating at Wheeling Park in the wintertime and go to the pool in the summertime.
When you have the time … when there’s zero chance for one of your children or work to interrupt – what music do you choose to listen to?
Another good question.
To be honest, there is no specific genre for me. I can get into almost anything anymore. I do listen to a lot of sports talk radio regarding the NHL and specifically the Pittsburgh Penguins (and, as of late, I can’t listen to much on them. Lol.).
