Betty Jarrell celebrated 40 years at her job the way she does most things — quietly.

Her anniversary party at Bishop Energy was an afternoon visiting with her coworkers, enjoying pizza and homemade pie.

She started working in the accounting department in 1969 and was the first woman hired by the venerable company then owned by Sam Enderby .

Jarrell had only been married a year and she said she, “always planned to work.”

“It was a small, family-owned company and Sam was a wonderful boss to work for. He was just a good Christian man,” she said.

In 1979, Enderby sold the company to the Bishop Gas Corporation.

Like Enderby, Jarrell said owner James Bishop is a fair and decent man.

“I’ve been lucky, I’ve had two good bosses. James is just as easy to work with as Sam was,” she said.

Jarrell grew up in Gainesville and graduated from Cooke County College.

She said math came easily to her, but she never planned to be an accountant.

“I really wanted to be a vet,” she said. “But it took too many years,” she said.

At Enderby, Jarrell quickly mastered accounting procedures.

She laughs at the suggestion that skills such as learning to use a desk calculator might be difficult for some.

‘It’s easy once you get used to it,” she said.

Jarrell became office manager after manager Bill Kyle died.

She said she felt young and a little intimidated at first, but that her uncertainty did not last long.

Numbers and reports became second nature to her.

She now oversees all the accounting procedures at the company.

“I’m the one who has to have the numbers ready (for company officials) to file with the government,” she said.

She also follows trends in the oil and the gas industry.

“It changes so quickly. You never know what’s going to happen,” she said.

Things are in high gear at Bishop this time of year.

“Business increases during the cooler months and slows during the warmer ones,” she said.

Life is not just about work for Jarrell.

Ask her about her family and she’s likely to smile and mention her grandson, Cole Anderson.

“He’s a bull rider,” she said.

She likes his competitions up to the moment he enters the ring.

“Then I close my eyes,” she said.

Cole’s injuries have included cuts, bruises and broken bones.

Jarrell also said she loves gardening, spending time with her beloved dogs — a rat terrier and a snauzer, and reading.

“I love murder mysteries. Some of my favorite authors are Sydney Sheldon and Nora Roberts,” she said.

Jarrell seems a little surprised that anyone wanted to make a fuss about her anniversary.

“Forty years sounds like a long time, but it’s been a joy,” she said.