It Takes Two

Tom and Sue Nicholson enjoyed two very different childhoods, and yet both grew up with similar value systems and dreams. Early on, both embraced the importance of honesty, hard work, patriotism, and being open to new ideas.

By Georgiann Potts | Photographs by Brad Arender

TOM WAS BORN IN DALLAS, and moved to Monroe with his family when he started first grade. His dad had become head of Business Affairs at Northeast Louisiana State College (now the University of Louisiana at Monroe) under newly appointed president, George T. Walker. He describes his childhood as “ . . . a very standard-issue Monroe upbringing” during which he attended Lexington Elementary, Lee Junior High, and Neville. He and his brother, John, were active Scouts and both attained the Eagle Scout rank. “Our family was pretty much typical of the era,” Tom recalls. “Dad went to work every day, and Mom stayed at home to raise us and manage the household.”

Tom describes his growing up as “ . . . mostly going with the flow.” He made good grades (and admits he didn’t have to try very hard) but really didn’t have any hobbies to speak of or much thought about a future career.

Sue’s childhood was far less “fixed.” She was born in Tacoma, Washington, where her father was an officer in the United States Army. Because of her father’s career, Sue lived in places both here and abroad — Alabama, Colorado, California, Korea, Georgia, Germany, and DeRidder, Louisiana. Not surprisingly, two vivid childhood memories reflect the impression living abroad had on her while growing up.

At age six, Sue was living in Tague, Korea, on a small military housing base near the airfield where her father flew helicopters. She remembers watching the Korean women doing their laundry in a little stream on the side of the base. Even though a large fence separated the base from the civilians, the children on both sides would watch each other and try to have a conversation.
“While we didn’t understand much, they remembered my name – ‘Susie’,” Sue recalls. “It sounded a lot like a Korean name – ‘Su See’. When I wasn’t there because of school or chores, the kids would stand by the fence and yell ‘Su See’ for me to come play.”

Today Sue realizes that experiencing an undeveloped country like Korea helped her understand what is truly important in our daily lives. She also understands that although the modern world gives much to make life better, it often desensitizes people to feel less grateful and less appreciative of what truly matters.

When Sue was in her early teens, the family lived in Munich, Germany, during the Cold War prior to German reunification. An important part of their household was the “emergency box” that the family kept in the hall closet in case they had to evacuate on short notice.

Even though times were tense, the family was able to visit West Berlin. They made the trip from Munich by train by night, and Sue remembers seeing armed guards at every stop. Once in Berlin, she remembers visiting the Wall, stopping at Check Point Charlie, and climbing up the observation tower. “This was the first time I can remember being grateful that I was an American and aware of the true meaning of freedom,” she says.

PURSUING HIGHER EDUCATION
Tom and his brother, John, both earned undergraduate degrees in finance from ULM and graduate degrees in finance from Louisiana State University. When asked how he and his brother happened to select identical university degrees, Tom (with characteristic frankness) replied, “Dad thought – for whatever reason – that banking looked like a great career path for his boys, so that’s how we both got started. Sounded OK to us, and we didn’t have any better ideas.”

Tom remembers his undergraduate experience at ULM as being one of the best of his life. Because of his father’s job there, Tom more or less grew up on the campus. He enjoyed attending sports events, watching track-and-field world records being set, the incredibly exciting basketball squads coached by Fant and Hollis, and also just getting to know a number of the people who were working so hard to build the university during the 1960’s and ‘70’s. Two former ULM presidents — George Walker and Dwight Vines — are among those he admired for what they were trying to do. “The education I got was excellent, and the environment was just so friendly and supportive,” he recalls. “It still is today.”

Several professors were among Tom’s favorites while at ULM. His very favorite subject, though not related to his career, was Statistics, taught by Dr. Mike Dolecheck – the professor he still says today was one of the best he ever had. “Dr. Dolecheck was so good that I took Advanced Statistics as an elective,” Tom says with a smile. “Everyone thought I was crazy!”

The best course that he had that directly related to his career was Business Communications taught by Dr. Dolecheck’s wife, Carolyn. Tom credits her with helping him develop what became one of his strongest assets – effective written communication.

The third professor who was a particular favorite was Dave Norris, former mayor of West Monroe now retired, who taught Tom his first Economics class. “He was very good at relating how abstract economic principals apply to real people,” Tom says. “Very enjoyable, and it created an interest in the broader field that I still have.”

By contrast, Sue’s earliest career aspiration was to become a missionary. Her best friend’s parents in Korea were missionaries and she thought that was what she wanted to do. Later she learned about the work of the Peace Corps and decided that she wanted to do that. After she graduated high school in DeRidder and began undergraduate studies at Louisiana Tech, law school piqued her interest. Though none of these ended up being her destiny, her interest in them all illustrate perfectly different parts of her personality. The “common thread” among these is that she wanted to help others, to make a difference. Tom laughingly refers to it as her “do-gooder” gene!

At Louisiana Tech Sue earned a degree in history (graduating Summa Cum Laude) and through it discovered a love for research. When she went to work in the non-profit sector — a decision that seemed at first to be a mismatch, she quickly learned how much research is a significant part of the work done in that field. She discovered that research and the writing associated with that — two things that she loves — made working for non-profits a perfect fit.

Her favorite subjects during her college years were Medieval History and English History. A self-confessed PBS English drama junkie, Sue says that any trip to England always includes visits to medieval churches.

While at Louisiana Tech, one professor impacted Sue in different ways. Dr. Abe Attrap taught her history using a series of stories to make the history “come alive”. “Dr. Attrap was the first professor who pushed me to read and understand different and often conflicting viewpoints,” Sue remembers. “He taught me to be open to different points of view and to compare and contrast them with my own. He helped me to understand the richness of civilizations and the lessons of history.”

Sue’s favorite subject not related to her career was art. She loves to draw and paint, although she insists that she isn’t very good at it. “I love the colors and textures of visual art,” she explains.

ESTABLISHING CAREERS
Both Tom and Sue had rather inauspicious beginning to their work lives. Tom’s first job was working at the old power plant on Park Avenue. He and his coworkers helped maintain the facility, and faded yellow paint on the handrails is still faintly visible. “I helped paint those,” Tom says. “The lesson that taught was that I didn’t want to paint handrails for a living.”

Sue’s first job memory was babysitting, but during the summer between her junior and senior high school years, she worked in a fast food restaurant. “This inspired me to get the education that I needed,” she says, “so that I would never have to work in a fast food restaurant again!”

Both confess to never having had what Tom calls “some grand master plan” concerning their careers. Even so, each took advantage of every opportunity that arose and by doing so, developed rock solid careers doing things that they love.

ROLE OF MENTORS
Tom “measures” his career in terms of three mentors who each took an interest in him that went beyond just family connection or friendship. The first, his father, clearly had a lifelong influence on Tom in all aspects of his son’s life.

The second was the late Jim Altick, the banker who brought Tom on board at Central Bank and helped guide Tom’s very successful career in banking. When Tom left the bank and the banking industry in 1998, he did so as the last president in Central Bank’s 100+ year history.

Tom’s third mentor was the late Saul Mintz, whose career philosophy Tom embraced as his own. He heard Mintz articulate his “business plan” several years after Tom joined Strauss and immediately recognized that their philosophies matched perfectly. Mintz explained to Tom that while many business people set goals, created budgets, and so on, he had never really had much use for all of that. Mintz said that his philosophy was to just “ . . . try and move the ball a little every day. Occasionally I get to move it more than that, and every now and again, I look up and am amazed at how far I’ve come.”

CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE
Sue’s work with the Ruston/Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau marked the beginning of what would become a long and successful career through which she connected with people and influenced community decisions for the better.

In 1995 Sue was named President of the West Monroe Chamber of Commerce, a position she held for nearly a decade. In 2004 she became Assistant Vice President for External Affairs at ULM, another post that she absolutely loved. Still, Chamber work drew her back. In 2005 she became president of the Monroe Chamber of Commerce, the position she currently holds.

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY
Tom and Sue share a passion for travel and get away as often as their jobs will allow. They love “traditional travel” (London, Scotland, Vancouver) but also embrace trips to places not as often on most travelers’ maps. Peru and Iceland are two such destinations that they have enjoyed. They would like to return to Iceland, but this time include a side trip to Greenland, Newfoundland, and Labrador.

Both also share a keen interest in genealogy, something that is often a part of their travel. Tramping about ancient churchyards and delving into old documents suit them both.

FUTURE DREAMS
Tom and Sue share a common vision for their future. Each looks forward to a time when careers won’t be at the forefront and they can spend even more time together. Both of them are extremely independent spirits, but somehow they have managed to accept at least partial dependence on each other.

“Tom will say that we fit together so well because we are both eccentric and hard to live with,” Sue says. “Still, it works. He is my best friend, we are a good team, and we just ‘fit’.” Tom adds, “For me, ‘family time’ is whenever Sue and I are together. We always have a LOT of things to talk about that interest us both. We find this world to be an infinitely interesting place. That is one of the strongest ‘glues’ that make our marriage a fit.”

As with all healthy relationships, there are occasional differences of opinion. Once early in their marriage, after the two had disagreed on some matter long since forgotten, Tom created a drawing for Sue. “It is of two stick figures on a hill,” she explains. “He said we were like two generals who were looking over the battlefield and we would always have each other’s back.” She had the drawing framed and keeps it where se can see it every day.

That drawing may also illustrate their joint role in our community — watching closely to see if there are areas in which they may contribute. Certainly sharing that “do-gooder” gene has helped, too. Their joint commitment to our community and its people has made all the difference.