My grandmother was born and raised during the great depression in Queens, NY.  She served our country in WWII as a pharmacists mate in the U.S. Navy, and she raised three daughters after becoming a widow when her youngest daughter, my mother, was five.  Given all that, she taught me to understand the value of saving and delayed gratification.  Her upbringing during the depression created in her a disdain for waste and true knowledge of the value of saving. 

                For her, the “why” behind her savings, her move out west, and her diligent hard work was to have a cabin in Wyoming where she could enjoy the American West that she fell in love with as a girl through cinema and books.  She’d paid her home off and had every penny she had ever saved in her savings account.  She’d shopped for land or cabins at times, but she always felt like the price had always been a bit too high for what she had, and she wanted to wait and save more.  She began having symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease which advanced quickly, and she moved in with us because she needed help in her daily life.  She never spent the money she’d saved, and she never got the cabin she’d been saving for. 

                My grandmother inspired me to a lifelong fascination with the time value of money, and the desire to achieve my own financial goals while helping others achieve theirs.  I was proud to return to her native New York as a West Point Cadet, and although her disease had advanced, I think she was proud too.  After my Army career, I became a consultant of various forms from surgery to economic development through W2 Fortune 500 roles in those fields to business ownership and independence.  In the end, consultation will find its way back to money.  I’ve earned additional degrees in Computer Science and an MBA.  I did those things to help people with their technology and organizational structure, but my favorite topic is Finance.  I am grateful to have had the opportunity to move into a consultative role that begins where all things end, and I get to do something I love every day. 

                In my free time I coach football at Granite Bay High School and serve on the Granite Bay Rugby Board.  I have four children.  My oldest son is an active duty Air Force linguist (Mandarin) and my older daughter attends UCLA where she studies applied mathematics in economics.  Yes it’s my not so secret agenda to get her back home and here working with me.  My younger two kids are still very active at GBHS in school and sports.  One of those sidelines is where you’ll usually find me.  If I'm not there I'm out playing in the beautiful Northern California outdoors, or I'm home enjoying some family time.
I follow the deep-seated Merrill tradition of participating in the communities we serve. This drives my interest in spending time volunteering with organizations in our community.