Staff
John Rudisill, CPA/PFS
John Rudisill is a Colorado “native” who graduated from the University of Denver with a B.S. in Business Administration and a major in accounting. Immediately after graduation, he became a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Colorado. He is also certified in the State of Washington. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Additionally, John is one of only 3,800 CPAs in the United States to hold the credential of PFS, Personal Financial Specialist. The PFS credential is granted by the AICPA exclusively to CPAs who have demonstrated a combination of extensive tax expertise and a comprehensive knowledge of financial planning, including estate, retirement, and insurance planning, investment advisory services, company employee benefit evaluation, and areas such as risk and performance management.
John began his accounting career in his senior year at DU, as a Tax Intern for Peat Marwick Mitchell (now KPMG). He spent the next 13 years rising to the position of Senior Audit Manager and SEC Reporting Manager in KPMG’s Denver and Albuquerque, New Mexico offices. His main areas of expertise included oil and gas, financial institution, agribusiness, and American Indian tribal accounting.
Upon leaving KPMG, John joined the senior staff of First National Bank in Albuquerque, where he served on the Executive Team as the bank’s Treasurer, as well as the Special Projects Manager of Mergers and Acquisitions and Asset/ Liability Management. He was later given responsibility for managing its Trust Department, a capacity in which he served for the following four years. When First National Bank was acquired by First Security Bank in Utah, John was asked to move to Salt Lake City to start and develop the bank’s new mutual fund company, and served on the bank’s Executive Team. John built an innovative team of people, and together they were responsible for designing and managing new mutual fund products, including one of the first profitable in-house “sweep account” products by a community bank.
When Wells Fargo Bank acquired First Security Bank, John decided not to accept a transfer to San Francisco, but instead assumed a job in Washington State as CEO and President of Financial Services Management Group (FSMG), which provided financial planning and investment advisory services to credit unions and their members. John obtained his Series 7, 66, and 24 securities licenses as well as the AICPA’s Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) credential.
With John's purchase of RGZ in 2010, John is pleased to return to his career "roots" in the realm of public accounting. Likewise, he and his wife, Karen, have "come home" to Colorado. John and Karen have raised two children, they have extended family along the entire Front Range, they enjoy their one-year old grandson, and look forward to the birth of their second grandchild in February 2012. In his spare time, John is a “history buff” and especially loves Civil War history. He is an avid Denver Broncos fan, a power boat “captain”, an experienced boating safety inspector and a member of the United States Power Squadron. He enjoys travel, music, and time with his growing family. You can email John at john@gardnercpa.com
Tracy Chamberlain, MS, CPA
Tracy joined the firm Gardner and Zeman with a Bachelors degree in accounting from Colorado State University. He went on to enhance his education by graduating from the University of Colorado at Denver with a Masters degree in accounting. Tracy was certified in 2003 but passed the CPA examination over 15 years ago. He is a member of the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Tracy joined the firm with 16 years of accounting experience in the private sector. He has worked in the mortgage banking, home building, civil and environmental engineering industries. His experience ranges from managing accounting and administrative departments to managing commercial real estate. Tracy is responsible for tax preparation, special projects related to tax preparation, tax research and planning.
Tracy is a native of Colorado. A trip around the world in 1980 reinforced his desire to live in Colorado. As hard as Tracy works on behalf of his clients at RGZ, he is active and "on the go" when he is away from the office. In his spare time, he "plays hard" at several sports. You might find Tracy on the golf course, traversing a challenging mountain bike trail, or most especially, skiing the bumps of Mary Jane at Winter Park. Of course, that's when he isn't traveling to the beach with his wife or doing renovation work on their home or on his extended family's mountain cabins, or helping others solve their computer issues. Whatever Tracy does, he does with gusto and a warm smile. You can email Tracy at tracy@gardnercpa.com.
Karen Rudisill
Karen grew up in Arvada, Colorado, and graduated with a B.S. in Business from the University of Colorado, with a major in Marketing. After a 22 year “hiatus” of living elsewhere, she has returned to"Colorful Colorado" as a resident and as a shareholder of RGZ. In the meantime, she has enjoyed the beautiful and uniqie opportunities of living in New Mexico, Utah, and most recently, she has relished her time living close to the water in Gig Harbor, a small fishing village in Washington State.
In her professional career, Karen has always been a “front line” person. She started her banking career as a teller at Silver State Savings & Loan in Denver, and later worked for Bank One. She was a Senior Personal Financial Representative at Washington Mutual Bank in Gig Harbor, WA until 2007. Throughout her adult life, Karen has also spent many hours in volunteer work for organizations large and small, formal and informal. From “official scorekeeper” and manager of her children’s softball/ baseball travel teams to her years as a docent giving gallery tours for Tacoma’s Museum of Glass or serving as Basic Boating Chairman and Instructor for the Tacoma Power Squadron, Karen loves meeting and working with people. At Rudisill, Gardner and Zeman, P.C., she is serving as Community Outreach and Office Manager.
Karen and John have a daughter and son, a sweet and energetic grandson, and await the arrival of their second grandchild in February 2012. They are enthusiastic boaters and members of the United States Power Squadrons. Additionally, Karen is a stained glass artist and a member the Arts Coalition of Erie (A.C.E.). She enjoys other creative arts such as knitting and jewelry-making. She loves travel, reading, and gardening, but most of all, she loves spending time with her family and her beagle, Casey. You can email Karen at Karen@gardnercpa.com