Possessing dual career paths in both music performance and finance, Fred Olin Hargis Jr. cultivated a decades-long tenure in which he excelled as both a commercial woodwind musician and financial accountant. As a young child, he possessed the ability to play church hymns “by ear” on the piano when he was only 4 years old. Desiring to share his talents and pursue his musical interests, he subsequently listened to and studied a variety of musical genres during his teenage years. From there, Mr. Hargis enrolled at the University of Houston, where he studied commercial and classical music performance. Mr. Hargis flourished under the tutelage of acclaimed flutist Byron Hester, who served as principal flutist of the Houston Symphony Orchestra for four decades. Following these studies, Mr. Hargis matriculated to the University of North Texas and further pursued coursework in jazz performance.
While tending to his studies in music, Mr. Hargis delved into the music industry itself, serving as a band manager and the leader of the Buddy Brock Orchestra from 1980 to 1997. Impressively, the Buddy Brock Orchestra was a ballroom dance band that was known for performing at exclusive hotels, country clubs and other venues across the nation. Likewise, Mr. Hargis served the University of St. Thomas in Houston as a professor of clarinet and saxophone for five years.
Congruent to his music-related vocation, Mr. Hargis also excelled in the field of finance in the latter stages of his career. Over the decades, he also lent his time and expertise to such ventures as JMC Homes, where he was the scheduling manager, and Robert Half Finance & Accounting, where he was a contract employee. Moreover, Mr. Hargis served as the president and chief executive officer of the eponymously named Fred Hargis, Inc., and was a fixed assets accountant at Nabors Corporate Services until his retirement from finance in 2018. While with Nabors Corporate Services, he created an automated population of a complicated template, as well as a depreciation and salvage matrix, which was later used as the basis for the company’s automated depreciation database.
In accounting for his success, Mr. Hargis was profiled in Who’s Who Among Rising Young Americans in American Society and Business. Notably, he was also the only student in the history of his high school, Sam Houston High School, to be bestowed with an Outstanding Music Award for his excellence in performing in their jazz band. In the present day, Mr. Hargis is applying to become a lifetime member of the Sons of the American Revolution, having maintained membership with the Association of Professional Genealogists. Mr. Hargis wishes to thank his family, friends, and teachers for his success.