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Paula Terbrak is back in the family business. Well, sort of.
The City of Perryville’s newest treasurer, hired earlier this month, is occupying the same space her grandmother, Theo Wichern, did for parts of two decades until 1990.
“I was very interested in this job when it came out,” said Terbrak. “I remember coming up to her office when we were younger.”
But that’s not the only reason she wanted the job.
“I love the community,” Terbrak said. “I love to be involved in the community, so I love the idea of helping out with what’s going on. I know I’m basically going to be generating the reports. I don’t make the decisions, but I’ll be giving [city administrators] the information they need to make the best decisions they can. I love numbers. I love to analyze and look at things. And so that part, I think is going be the most exciting, the projects that they have any analyzing them and looking at them.”
Terbrak, whose first day on the job was Dec. 3, will eventually replace Donna Strattman, who will retire in the spring. Until then, the two will work side-by-side, giving Terbrak the chance to settle into the new office as well as getting a helping hand from an experienced mentor.
“I’m very glad that that I get that time,” Terbrak said, “because with accounting, you have so many different things that only happen at certain times of the year. Having that opportunity to have her show me all those things is a great opportunity for me. It can only help with going into the role.”
A Perryville native, Terbrak, 47, graduated from St. Vincent’s High School before heading off to college. Now a certified public accountant, she admits that she didn’t always know what career she wanted.
“So I went to work in the workforce,” Terbrak said. “I worked at Seguin Moreau Cooperage here in Perryville and then decided that accounting was what I wanted to do and went to Southeast Missouri State and got my degree in accounting.”
During her time at Seguin Moreau, Terbrak was promoted to manager and managed the facility for 10 years before leaving to take a position with a local accounting firm.
Most recently, Terbrak served as a workforce coordinator in the Human Resources department at Robinson Construction.
“It was my responsibility to place all the workers on all the different sites,” Terbrak said. “And when they needed a certain trade, it was my responsibility to find the workers that they needed to complete their jobs. There’s a lot of moving pieces and things like that.”
Terbrak said her time at Robinson was challenging and rewarding, but it wasn’t accounting, which is where she wanted to be.
“I was very excited to get back into accounting because that is what I like to do,” Terbrak said. “I love the numbers. I love to track. A lot of my background is in costing with the manufacturing facilities and that was my job to work with the budgets.”
Her new job, she said, is the best of both worlds.
“Getting back into the accounting and then also working with the community is great,” Terbrak said. “I served on the chamber board before. I served on the Mayfest committee before. I’m in the Rotary — I like to be involved in that community. So being able to get back to accounting and be a part of the community and working for the community is a big deal.”
And it’s a way to connect with her grandmother.
“I am very passionate and I want to do what’s best for the community and work with each of the aldermen,” Terbrak said. “I will be looking out for the best interests of this city because I grew up here, I’ve been a part of it and I want to see it grow and be the best that it can be.”
