SALUTE TO DENISE GRIEVE – CAPL Office Manager
As announced at the November 17, 2017 General Meeting we are saying goodbye to one of our own. Denise has had our backs for over 25 years but the time for her to retire is upon us and we wish to bid a fond farewell to Denise – as should we all!
Background on Denise – Born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, Denise is married and has 2 children and 2 grandchildren. Denise’s interests are travelling and enjoying her family. She is fiercely proud of her children, Lisa and Jeff; and her eyes definitely light up whenever she talks about her grandchildren. The Grieve family is very close and they regularly spend quality time together at family dinners, outings with the grandchildren at various venues like the Calgary zoo, and enjoying family vacations.
After graduating from high school, Denise attended the University of Saskatchewan for one year. During the following summer she worked as a summer student for Saskatchewan Power. In the early 1970’s Denise and a friend decided it was time to broaden their horizons and on a “whim” they loaded up their car and moved to Calgary. Denise was able to secure employment at Anthes Western during her first week in Calgary. After Anthes, Denise spent 14 years working for the accounting firm of Grant Thornton and it was during this tenure with Grant Thornton that Denise was introduced to the CAPL. In 1992 Grant Thornton was awarded the contract to manage the affairs of the CAPL office and Denise was appointed to the position of office manager after being interviewed by Ken McNeill and Barry Rowe. In June all of the CAPL files and boxes were delivered to the office located in One Palliser Square. The first few months were chaotic and very busy as CAPL was in the midst of planning their annual conference. She admits that at the time she had no idea of what a Landman was or did. The learning curve was steep indeed; however, Denise put her heart and soul into her work and has never looked back.
At that time, Past President Colin Ogilvy was President, Past President Trevor Williams was Vice-President and the CAPL membership stood at only 900. Things were a lot different in those days as the internet, desktop computers and our ‘connectedness’ were not in existence then so all of the CAPL registration procedures were done manually, including courses, conference and a host of other CAPL events. The first Education course that Denise handled was coordinated by Past President Lynn Lehr and was instructed by Past President Jim O’Byrne, namesake for our biggest classroom. As the membership swiftly grew, so did Denise’s duties at the CAPL office. So, in 1993 Karin Steers was assigned to assist Denise in managing the office. Although both Denise and Karin continued their tenure with Grant Thornton, in May 2000 they officially became full-time employees of the CAPL. And in June 2000 CAPL took possession of their office space located on the 3rd floor of the Chevron Building. We are not-for-profit association run by volunteers, so it fell to the members of the Board and other CAPL volunteers who physically moved all of CAPL’s records to the new space. Talk about humble beginnings, Denise recalls that on the first Monday in the new office space there were no phones, no fax, no computers and no office furniture. Denise proved she was always capable no matter what the situation once again. Again it was time to move and in June of 2015, after we received the heave-ho from Chevron, we settled in our current space at 1600, 520-5 Avenue S.W.
During the ensuing years, Denise has continued to serve as our office manager, reporting directly to the Board, attending all Board meetings, Annual Conference Committee meetings and Education Committee meetings as well as her primary role of coordinating the activities of the office staff to meet the needs of the Association.
With an amazing work ethic, and over the 25 plus years of employment with the CAPL, Denise has amassed a huge network, a large knowledge base and she is literally a ‘’walking CAPL road map” to our past, present and our Association’s future.
Denise – we owe you and the staff at CAPL our undying gratitude for a job well done and we all wish you and your family good health and a bright future ahead as you spend more time together. We will treasure the memories we have of you with us and we look forward to enjoying the legacy you have left behind.
– The CAPL Board and CAPL Members
