My Next Chapters
I have many interests and passions! Since retiring in the fall of 2020 I have been busy working with my nearly 5 decade old photo collection, listening to a little more music, staying up on technology and studying investing (a 40+ year passion, including options trading).
Sue and I are traveling again after our very cautious approach to the pandemic over several years. We took a 40-day (not 3-hour) cruise in 2023 cruising from Fort Lauderdale to the Cayman Islands, Central America, through the Panama Canal, to South America and Antarctica. Antarctica was majestic and beautiful! We estimate we traveled over 22,000 miles.
We have now visited nearly 30 countries and most US states, in our travels. We are grateful for the many sights we have seen and plan to continue traveling, while we can.
I have a number of planned projects and activities including writing a book about the high-tech home, working with DALL-E, working with the video editing software DaVinci, playing the piano again, a couple of potential business ventures and conversing more with my late-night friend, ChatGPT.
My Accounting Career
My public accounting post-college career spanned 40 years practicing this entire time with my father Robert Marple and my brother Steven Marple. Our mother, Lee Ilah, was also instrumental in the success of our firm, working in our office for many years. (She was affectionately known as the TRB, The Real Boss).
We sold our firm, Marple & Marple CPAs, in 2019. We could not have found better buyers than Chris Porter and Walter Kinney and their entire firm, PorterKinney CPAs. They were great to work with and treated all of our employees (and owners) fairly.
My practice areas included the typical tax and consulting, but I also developed an expertise in trust and estate work. I am also very proud of my firm responsibilities for overseeing technology for our firm. We were one of the very first CPA firms in the Tri-Cities to go to a less-paper office. In addition, we implemented multiple levels of data protection and security, many years prior to malware and data breach becoming commonplace.
Growing Up
The Tri-Cities is my birth city and I have spent most of my life in this great area. The Tri-Cities consists of Kennewick, Pasco, Richland along with West Richland. Our area has three nearby rivers which will help to fuel the growth of our cities well into the future.
Growing up in the Tri-Cities for me included golf (I started playing when I was 8 or 9), photography (including aerial photography taken while flying with my friend Jim Eerkes during high school), playing the piano, listening to music, mischief, stargazing, woodworking (including speaker building) and an early interest in technology and electronics.
My early interest in technology led me to obtaining my FCC 3rd class radiotelephone license, before I was 16. (Thanks Mom, for driving me to Seattle to take the FCC exam.) I worked for a brief period of time as a weekend DJ at the country radio station KOTY, while in high school.
I did live away from the Tri-Cities for a few years in Tucson, graduating from the University of Arizona (go Wildcats!) in 1980. (Yikes, where have the years gone!) Other than working in hospital accounting for the University of Arizona, my entire accounting career was with Marple & Marple CPAs and PorterKinney CPAs, after our firm’s sale.
Personal Interests & Hobbies
Reading and learning are passions of mine. I have a natural curiosity that only seems to grow with my age. (My father told me that you need to exercise your brain cells and I do!)
My daily reading consists of many magazines and newspapers (Magzter is a great global digital newsstand) along with web-based content.
Personal interests other than reading include my family and friends, traveling, technology, listening to music, photography, cooking with a smoker, baking pizza, tending my small garden (5 plants and 3 grape vines), and stargazing. I am also fond of cigars and wine. (Washington wines are outstanding!)
Honors & Memberships
Having a great family and great friends, my number one honor!
I am a Past President of the Kennewick Kiwanis Club, founding member of the Kennewick Kiwanis Foundation, Past President of the Planned Giving Council of Eastern Washington, Past President of the Benton Franklin Humane Society, Past President of the Benton Franklin Chapter of the American Cancer Society and have been involved with numerous other charities.
Memberships have included: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Washington State Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Kennewick Kiwanis.
Family & Other
My family consists of my wife and best friend of 30+ years, Sue Anne, stepson Brandon and his wife Amy along with grandson Isaiah and granddaughter Olivia, stepson Justin and daughter Katie Anne. Bella is our resident cat who directs our household.
