Fond Farewell To A Valued Colleague and Friend, enjoy retirement.

I want to take a brief hiatus from my blended family newsletter theme and focus on a tribute to my longtime business partner, Conrad Slate.  Our dear friend, mentor and firm co-founder, Conrad Slate, retired on June 30th.  We enjoyed a wonderful celebration that evening where Conrad even got to throw out the first pitch at the Tennessee Smokies game.  We enjoyed ballpark food, had some fun, shared in fellowship and even indulged on a delicious sheet cake.  Conrad has served his clients for over 50 years in financial services.  As he shared in his speech, most folks he served weren’t just clients, they are friends.

Conrad was not just a business partner to Will and me.  He played the role of mentor and father figure to us in addition to being the voice of experience and helping us through those long days that often occur early in our careers.  I’ll share one of the greatest gifts that Conrad gave to me over the years.  He helped me in understanding more about my faith, and spirituality and strengthening my walk with Christ as a man, husband, father, and businessperson.  He did it through his actions, his advice, his encouragement and YES…..even through his critiques of things I had done or said.  He was always truthful in his words and actions.  As I reflect on our years working together, I’m thankful for Conrad always being steadfast in his honesty, truth, and objectivity.

Now if you know Conrad, then you also know he has been around the office a few times since June 30th and still has an occasional client meeting here and there.  I’m sure that will continue for some time and our team is happy to see him on the days he is here in the office.  I hope that he knows just how much he is missed and how much he is appreciated for all of things he has contributed to our firm over the years.

Most importantly, in his creating a firm with a culture of honesty, truth and objectivity.