This past week, the McAllen Chamber of Commerce honored two outstanding individuals from our community with our highest awards: Janet Vackar was honored as Woman of the Year and Paul Moxley was honored as Man of the Year. Both of these people epitomize the strength, character, and leadership that is so often demonstrated in McAllen. We are fortunate to have such wonderful people in McAllen.
Janet Vacker. Janet is a warm and gracious person. Janet and her husband are outstanding leaders and have given and been a part of this community for a long time. Janet loves to tell the story of how she was teasing her dad about how nervous he looked on TV doing a commercial. Her dad asked her to join him on the next TV commercial and, from that moment on, a dynamic pair of father/daughter car commercials was born and they became TV legends in South Texas.
After Janet’s parents’ untimely deaths, her dad’s favorite trademark saying of “Dale Gas!” became Janet’s favorite way to remember and honor her father. She still uses that phrase at the end of every Bert Ogden commercial today. Janet has been honored with numerous awards, such as Humanitarian of the Year, Business of the Year, Perfect Pair, and Border Texan of the Year (both Janet and her husband Bob), and she and her husband have, in turn, established numerous scholarship programs and endowments.
The one key thing that shines through in almost every conversation about Janet is her personality. She is the person who makes you feel comfortable almost instantly, and she is so quick with a laugh or smile that puts everybody at ease. She is a “Valley Girl” and she is proud of her South Texas roots. There is something about an encounter with Janet Vacker that just lifts your spirit. She has such positive mojo.
Paul Moxley. Paul was not born here in South Texas, but his family moved here when he was six months old. He grew up in McAllen and is a product of the McAllen education system. He played football at Trinity University in San Antonio and one year of semi-pro football with the San Antonio Toros.
Paul served a tour of duty in Vietnam as a 2nd Lieutenant with the Corp of Engineers. Paul said that one cool thing about when he was in the army was that he learned how to blow things up. After his tour of duty, Paul returned to McAllen to start his banking career at McAllen State Bank and then served Valley Federal Savings as president. Paul then joined Glen Roney at Texas State Bank and served as president and director. The next career move came when Paul joined Texas Regional Bank in 2012 as CEO/President.
Like Janet, Paul has received numerous awards over his career, including the Humanitarian and Leadership Award Award from Easter Seals, Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award from the Boy Scouts, and the list goes on. Paul is a great storyteller and a straight shooter. his stories and adventures are legendary, and it is not uncommon for people to have tears rolling down their cheeks from laughing at his stories.
Paul is from the Valley, and his core values and opportunities come from this region. He is more than happy to share his success and help pave the road for the next generation of upcoming leaders.
See you in Mcallen!