Past VSCPA President Sam Derieux dies

Samuel Derieux, a Richmond-based certified public accountant and past president of the Virginia Society of CPAs (VSCPA), died on March 8. He was the only person to ever serve as both the president and chairman of the board of directors for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

A World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Navy, Derieux retired as the managing partner of Richmond-based Derieux, Baker, Thompson and Whitt, which later absorbed into Deloitte, one of the “Big Four” global accounting firms. A graduate of the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, he was later a member of the school’s advisory board and taught accounting as a visiting professor at U.Va. and as an adjunct professor at Richmond Professional Institute (now Virginia Commonwealth University).

Derieux joined the VSCPA in 1953 and became a lifetime member in 1993. He served as VSCPA president from 1962 to 1963 and was president of AICPA and chairman of its board of directors from 1973 to 1974. Known for penning poems, jingles and limericks, Derieux wrote a history of the VSCPA covering the decades from 1950 to 2000, as a companion piece to the 1900-1950 history written by the society’s first president, W.P. Hilton.

VSCPA is starting the Samuel A. Derieux, CPA, Memorial Scholarship in his honor.

“We have lost a true gift to the CPA profession,” said VSCPA President and CEO Stephanie Peters in a statement. “It’s impossible to quantify how much Sam has meant to the Society and its members over the last 60 years. Even after retirement, Sam was always interested in how the profession was changing and evolving, and he always maintained tremendous influence with the profession’s leaders across the country. He could see the humorous side of any situation, but above all, he treated everyone with dignity and respect.”

VSCPA Past President Stephanie Saunders, CPA, a shareholder at Saunders & Saunders PC in Virginia Beach, said, “Sam was a true Virginia gentleman and lived a full and well-respected life. When I was on AICPA Council, Sam was a mentor to all who had the opportunity to serve on Council. AICPA leadership and staff knew Sam well and when he had something to say, everyone listened! He also had a quick wit and many of his ‘poems’ were shared among his colleagues.”