An 'agent of innovation'

Longtime BPA adjunct instructor Henry W. Scharf III leaves extraordinary mark at CSUB

By California State University, Bakersfield

January 23^rd, 2023

Henry W. Scharf III — a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and longtime adjunct instructor for the Accounting Department at California State University, Bakersfield — died on Jan. 6 at the age of 73.

Scharf received his bachelor's in accounting from San Diego State University and his Master of Business Administration from CSUB. He served as a tax and accounting specialist for many of his clients in the oil and gas industry. Within the School of Business and Public Administration, he taught the subject matters of financial, managerial and tax accounting at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

“Henry was an excellent instructor in every class he taught, always going the extra mile to ensure great student learning experiences,” said Accounting Department Chair Dr. Di Wu. “I always enjoyed working, collaborating, and teaching with him to support our accounting program and students. He will be missed by our students, alumni, faculty, and community.”

Interim BPA Dean Dr. Seung Bach also conveyed his sentiments.

“What a remarkable and wonderful friend of BPA. Hank was a great colleague and champion for the Accounting Program at BPA, and he never hesitated to go the extra mile for our students. He will be tremendously missed,” he said.

The Scharf family expressed how Henry loved pouring knowledge into his students.

“He enjoyed every class he ever taught, especially if he was able to provide practical experience and skills to back up the theory of good accounting. He was most proud of the fact that many of his students would become first-generation university graduates. He had profound respect and pride in his students’ accomplishments and abilities.”

Harvey McCown, accounting lecturer at CSUB and longtime friend of Scharf, reminisced about Henry’s important involvement with the IRS and his intuitiveness for innovation. McCown said Scharf was one of the foremost CPAs in the oil and gas industry and, as an IRS agent, worked with representatives in Washington D.C. on regulations for new tax bills.

McCown said Scharf’s latest contribution was incorporating data analytics into his accounting courses at CSUB.

“He will be tremendously missed by his family, friends, the community, higher education and the CPA world,” he said.

Scharf arrived in Bakersfield from San Diego State University in 1975 as an IRS field auditor. He passed all parts of the CPA exam on his first attempt and worked for Daniells, Philips, Vaughn & Bock until 1983.

He started his own practice with his wife, Marge Trens, specializing in taxes and the oil and gas industry services.

“Henry was always at the forefront of technology and looked for ways to keep his accounting firm ahead of the curve when the computing age took off,” she said. “When he could not find adequate software products, he wrote his own general ledger package to provide needed information to clients.”

Scharf was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy as a Communications Technician First Class and was a former director and treasurer for the California Living Museum in Bakersfield. He was a member of the American Institute of CPAs, California Society of CPA’s, California Independent Petroleum Association, Council of Petroleum Accounting Societies and California Petroleum Accounting Society.

Scharf was also active in his church, St. Phillips the Apostle Church, and was a member of the Knights of Columbus. He was an active soccer referee for over twenty years.

Scharf is survived by his wife and three children — Claire Verti, Henry Scharf IV and Alice Keeney — as well as his siblings Carl, Robert, Nora and Anita Scharf. He is also survived by his children’s spouses — Mark Verti, Stephanie Scharf and Sarah Keeney — and four grandchildren: Victoria and Elizabeth Verti, William Scharf and Cora Keeney.

Catholic services and a memorial will be held at St. Phillips Catholic Church on Feb. 9 starting at 9 a.m. The burial will be that afternoon at the National Cemetery with veteran honors at 1:15 p.m.