Father’s Day is every day for this deacon

Daughters, Adria Vasquez (left) and Annalia Palacios Matthews work with dad, Deacon Fino Palacios, at the family business, Palacios & Palacios. The accounting firm recently moved from an office building in downtown Corpus Christi to a larger office building near the intersection of Morgan and Staples.

Rebecca Esparza for South Texas Catholic
 

“I was a shy kid. I heard about how impressed she was at some other guy in class who made good grades, so I made sure I made ‘A’ Honor Roll just for her,” he laughed. “It worked, and we began dating by ninth grade!”

By high school, they attended different schools, so being together was tough. The young couple eventually broke up, and Rebecca spent a summer studying in Europe. When she returned, Palacios noticed her at Mass while he was an altar server.

“When you are seated next to the priest, you can see the whole congregation,” recalled Palacios. “The priest talked about love during his homily, and how sometimes we are afraid to tell people we love them because we are afraid of the risk, but it’s worth it. I called her the next day, and we’ve been together ever since.”

While his wife Rebecca was in Europe, she purchased something special and gave it to Palacios after they had been dating one year.

“She gave me this St. Christopher medal from the Vatican,” he said, proudly displaying it. “We’ve been married since 1975, and I still wear it to this day. We have five beautiful children: Adria, Alexia, Adelfino, Alyssia and Annalia.”

Obviously, fatherhood doesn’t come with a set of instructions, Palacios said. “You have an idea of what it might be like from your parents, but there is no way of knowing until you have your first one. 

“I think we tried to plant seeds in our children because we are not always going to be with them, all the time. We wanted to make sure they have good morals and do the right thing.”

Palacios added that he and his wife supported the varied interests of their children while they were growing up, never pushing them into a specific career. Today, each of their children has found their own path.

Palacios has always had a love of numbers, graduating from the University of Texas in Austin with a degree in mathematics. After graduating, he returned to Corpus Christi and thought he would start teaching, but instead, he began working as a general manager for Corpus Christi based Boat and Net Restaurants. 

“After a year there, I decided to pursue a life-long career of working with numbers and started working for a local CPA,” he said. 

He worked at the CPA firm for six years when a colleague at Del Mar College asked him to join the college as a professor in 1981.

“It’s funny how the good Lord works. One of my biggest fears was public speaking, but teaching has helped me overcome that fear,” he laughed. “I started doing bookkeeping on the side, and one thing led to another.”

Today, Palacios operates a CPA firm, Palacios & Palacios with his business partner, who also happens to be his oldest daughter, Adria. The father and daughter duo just recently moved their thriving CPA practice from a small office in downtown Corpus Christi to an entire building near the intersection of Morgan and Staples.

Their youngest daughter, Annalia Palacios Matthews, works part-time at the family business as a Senior Administrative Assistant. She also works at the Texas State Aquarium in the Animal Care Department and is planning a career in the agriculture sector. Annalia said her father is one of the kindest human beings you will ever meet.

“He leads by example, always conveying compassion, benevolence and respect to all individuals,” she said. “If a person would ever get upset or angry, lashing out verbally for any reason, he wouldn’t get defensive. He would tell us perhaps that person must be going through a hard time and is just trying to cope. Every time, dad would be right.”

Annalia said that she and her siblings were all involved in the Church as altar servers before their father became a deacon. “Even now my husband and I are extraordinary ministers of holy Communion. Dad has always been a guide and a splendid example of what embodies Christianity,” she said. “I feel deeply rooted in my faith due to the wonderful foundation my parents have laid for me. I can only build and grow stronger. To love God and to love each other is everything.”

His favorite memories of being a deacon include baptizing all of his grandchildren and marrying all his children. Having just recently lost his mom, he also had the honor of serving at her Mass and rosary. Although it was tough, his faith in God carried him through one of the worst times in his life.

“We go forward. That’s our faith. I know she is in a better place. My whole philosophy has always been God, family and work. I try to instill that with my employees, with my kids and grandchildren. If you put God first, everything else falls into place,” he said.

“When you put God at the center of your marriage, you put your faith in something more than just each other. You want to be happy in life, but God never told us we would be happy. What he did promise is peace,” Palacios said. “You want to have peace in your marriage; you want peace in your family. The devil is working overtime to try and divide families, so we must rely on God and prayer to get us through the tough times.”