in memory: Alice Usher

This time of year many publications offer their person(s) of the year.  People, living and dead, who have made a great impact and should be noted for their contributions to the greater good.  I like those which include the household names (e.g. Ted Kennedy) but more importantly I really enjoy the recounts of those who are total unknowns - to explore and appreciate someone just on their merits.  The little guy.

Readers of this blog, whether directly or indirectly, have been influenced by the wise words of wisdom from Alice Usher.  Alice was my tax accountant and her understanding of Canadian and US, personal and corporate, taxes was unparalleled.  But she was more than that: a friend, maternal figure, investment adviser, life coach.  You’d be surprised how most of our actions day to day tie back to our “tax strategies” and Alice could see all that.  Some key guidance that changed my life:

• Alice was the one who told me to sell all my stock and investments and plow it into my first house purchase and then apply for a line of credit to use in case I needed money in an emergency (I thought I should hold back some cash).  That was January 2000 and I made a *ton* of money just before the stock market crashed based on that advice;
• When I give general guidance to incorporate a company but then consult to it (instead of being an employee of it) so that you don’t lose your personal tax deductions for running a small consulting business out of your home - well that was Alice (I got to write off huge portions of my home repairs);
• She figured out the fine line / gray area between greedy and leaving money on the table when it came to tax deductions and was more than savvy when dealing with the IRS;
• Her advice on my retirement investment strategy, for no charge, has governed my personal finances for the last ten years and has survived both boom and busts.

Through referrals Alice took many of you on as a favor to me because she really believed in Business Ready and helping the little guy and agreed that even tax accountants would charge exorbitant fees if they thought they could because, like lawyers, tax accountants are a necessary evil of doing business.  I was always thankful that my portfolio companies could have access to such great advice at a reasonable rate.  She’d been a respected accountant for five decades!

So, who was Alice?  Well, she was New-England born (1940) and Virginia raised, a dual citizen like me, who absolutely loved her Jack Russells.  Sure she was a single mom in her late sixties but you’d never know it: her zest for life and keeping on top of new technologies was awesome.  She loved the clients I brought her so she could keep “one toe” in the scene.  She had three daughters (Donna, Michelle and Chris) who I had met/known throughout school here in Vancouver that each brought a little trouble her way.  Hah!  But that laugh.  Oh, that laugh.  Ya, the girls may have brought home the trouble but by the time the story came my way it was just that: a story.  She’d seen some tough times too, don’t get me wrong, but she survived it all.

Unfortunately, Alice had a bit of a tickle in her throat last year and was having a hard time swallowing.  Upon further investigation it turned out to be cancer.  She did the whole chemo/radiation business (while doing all her clients taxes earlier this year - half of them didn’t even know she was going through this!) and thought she had recovered enough to make it to her Christmas Eve/Day dinner rituals (which I was fortunate enough to be included in a few times).  Sadly, today, December 19th, 2009, she passed into the mist.

Does this post do her justice? Not at all.  But it is better than a two line obit and will hopefully, through the longevity of the internet, keep her in memory - a household name … if only at my house.  Definitely someone who was notable.  Alice, you will be sorely missed.