Sue McGrath: The Value of SVP
Sue McGrath was born in Longview, Washington and lived in several small towns in Washington, Oregon and then Nome, Alaska. Her father was in newspaper publishing and ran several newspapers, including the Nome Nugget. After graduating from Oregon State University with honors in Mathematics, Sue taught college and high school mathematics for a few years before going into accounting. Now President and Senior Portfolio Manager for Vision Capital Management, Inc., Sue loves her work. As a people person she really enjoys helping multi-generational families with their estate planning, retirement planning, refinancing, stock options, tax planning, college strategy and major purchases. She provides a very personal service, providing a support system – she even accompanies her clients when they purchase homes, cars or sell their condos.
Sue is very positive about SVP and has been a Partner since 2002. She believes SVP is a great way to take our individual dollars and put them together for a greater impact. She loves the group of folks, likes being able to 'fall in' when she can. "Every project and program that we have funded makes me feel great." Sue says she makes money in order to give back. Sue was the treasurer for CASH Oregon during our investment period. She served on the Investment Team in 2006 and helped with computer training at Metropolitan Family Services and hands-on service with Children's Relief Nursery.
Her husband Bernie is retired after teaching math for 30 years in Tualatin/Tigard high schools. Her daughter Marina Johnson is a partner in Vision Capital. Sue and Bernie have two adored grandsons, Quinn and Blake, ages 5 and 3. Sue says there is nothing better than having the family over for games and “cooking with grandma." She loves traveling with large groups of family and friends. And really big on her fun list are OSU sports – she and Bernie cheer at many football and baseball games each season.Sue serves on the board of the Oregon Society of CPA Educational Foundation, which gives scholarships to Oregon high school students planning to major in accounting at Oregon universities. She serves on her church budget committee. She has been on the Board of Trustees with Oregon State University for 10 years.