Becky Warner Retires After 30 Years; Kris Cox Is New Accounting Manager
Longtime staff member Becky Warner will retire Feb. 29 from her position as the Dallas BA’s accounting manager. Kris Cox, who joined the Association last spring as an administrative assistant, has assumed accounting responsibilities.
Becky joined the staff in 1983 as a 19-year-old graduate of Executive Secretarial School. She took a decade-long sabbatical to become a full-time mom, rearing two children, Sabrina and Sean. She returned to the Association as receptionist, then quickly transitioned to new duties as communications assistant, where she handled such responsibilities as Home Builder advertising, the Home of the Week program and Home Buyers School.
After several years in this position, Becky added accounting duties to her resume, and became the Dallas BA’s full time accounting manager in 2015.
“If I had to name Becky’s most valuable asset in the workplace, it would be ‘adaptability’,” said Director of Communications Barcie Vilches, who has worked with Becky since she came on board the Dallas BA. “She has literally worked in every single department in one way or another. Over the years she has run division meetings, golf tournaments and After Hours; taken photos and proof read tons of documents; handled the membership database; worked dozens of special events; hauled awards and office supplies; and unloaded boxes and boxes and boxes of Parade of Homes magazines. She started working here before we had computers, so members had to call the office to make meeting reservations; it was Becky’s job to write all those down on little slips of paper, about a zillion of them every day because we had something like 15-20 divisions and councils at that time.”
Becky is also the one who deciphered former Executive Officer Ed Cox’s hand-written notes on the Association’s history, typing the entire book to submit to the publisher. “No matter what needed to be done, Becky has always been up to the task,” Barcie recalls. “Climbing up on the Irving Convention Center’s very high marquee to change out the lettering for our Spanish language homebuyer’s school, Primera Casa. Retrieving a litter of feral cats that had been born in our office courtyard. Tackling all kinds of daunting office equipment set-up or repair. You name it.”
“This Association has meant so much to me,” Becky has told fellow staff. “The Dallas Builders Association really is a work family, just a really big one that includes all of our members.”
Her retirement plans include traveling with her husband, Darren, to visit family and friends, and to log adventures spanning the country from sea shore to mountains.
“Although we are very excited that Becky is able to retire and begin this new chapter in her life, she will be deeply missed,” stated Executive Officer Gena Godinez. “My only regret is not being able to work with her longer. Becky always has a positive attitude and is willing to help wherever needed. She has devoted countless hours to assisting Kris Cox with this transition and has agreed to be available for the foreseeable future if any questions arise.”
Before relocating to the DFW area, for the past 15 years, Kris Cox and her husband Kyle had owned a design/build custom home company in the Texas Hill Country, where Kris was the office administrator and bookkeeper. She holds a degree in exercise and sports sciences from Texas Tech University.
Kris worked in the fitness industry until the family moved to Boerne, and her husband needed help in his office. She soon realized that her organizational skills and love for numbers were exactly what was needed to build the company. Their two children also graduated from Texas Tech, and now live in Plano. Their son, Keaton Cox, is a civil engineer with Dallas BA member Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.
Top Photo: Executive Officer Gena Godinez presents Becky Warner with a retirement gift at the Feb. 20 Board of Directors meeting: Becky and her husband are huge fans of the Texas Rangers, so the DBA Staff unanimously decided that tickets to World Series Champions Texas Rangers’ season opener against the Chicago Cubs would be the ideal gift.