August 25— State Auditor Gary Jones

August 25— State Auditor Gary Jones, ”A billion here, a billion there . . . before long, you’re talking about real money!”: Gary Jones was born at Fort Sill 8/27/1954, the fifth of seven children to SFC James J. & Clara Jones.  He started school at Jefferson Elementary in Lawton, but like most military families moved and also attended school in Texas and Germany before returning to Lawton to attend Eisenhower Jr. High.  Jones graduated from Eisenhower Sr. in 1972.  That fall, Gary entered Cameron University full time while also working full time for Southwestern Bell. At age 20, Gary was promoted into management for Southwestern Bell as one of the youngest managers in company history. The following year he was promoted again to Southwestern Bell state headquarters in OKC and attended night school at Central State University.  Gary returned to Lawton in June, 1977 to marry his wife, Mary Jane. Gary attended night classes at Cameron and graduated in July 1978 with a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting.  Jones worked for Bell for 10 years before starting a telecommunications company he owned and operated for 16 years. He was elected as Comanche County Western District Commissioner in August 1994 and served 4 years.  In January 1999, Gary returned to Cameron to finish the requirements needed to sit for the CPA exam. In May 2000, he fulfilled his original collegiate goal and became a Certified Public Accountant.  In November 2010, on his third attempt, Gary was elected Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector. He was re-elected in 2014 without opposition.