Remembering Susie, Beloved RTA Employee

We recently lost a beloved former RTA employee, Susie McClarnan. Many of our clients likely remember her, and we know you’ll share our sentiments that she was just a wonderful, memorable person.

Some of our longest-tenured RTA employees who worked with Susie had the following to say about our beloved former receptionist:

“Susie was a huge piece of RTA under Dad’s tenure. Her ability to connect with people, to hear them, to care about them… I’ve never met anyone like it. I’ve known her since I was 13 or 14, wearing a size 13 shoe. I remember running network cables at our old office building, climbing up the ladder by her desk, and the whole time just hearing her comments about how gigantic my big white Nikes were. She had an internal caller ID that could recognize your voice, and an impeccable memory about you and your life. We may have had nearly 900 clients, but when you called and talked to her, you felt like you were the only one who mattered. I honestly think half the people who came to Conference back then only came to see Susie. And the other half came because she pestered them into submission to be there!

 I’ll also never forget her love of the Oregon Ducks, and how she frequently signed her emails, “QUACK!”. I especially remember the gajillion ducks she had around her desk. I may have contributed to the flock a few times as well. 

 We have missed her at RTA since she retired, and I know her family is missing her even more now. I personally know the loss of a parent can be tough, but also a time of great joy as we remember the light they gave us. 

To Susie, and her family, QUACK!”

• Josh Turley, RTA CEO

“Susie started two days after I did and she was a treasure to work with for all the years she was with RTA.

She was normally the first person that our customers would talk to when they called in and she had this knack for learning all she could about them when they called. I mean, I swear she knew who you were just by the sound of your voice, and she would take a little bit of time to just ask how you were doing and get to know I think every one of our customers on a personal level as much as she could.

And boy, did she love going to our conferences and spending time with our customers in person!

I think If you asked most, if not all, of our long-time customers who knew Susie, I’m sure they would tell you she was more like a family member than a receptionist.

One funny story I can remember was the time one of our customers called in for Tech Support. What you have to understand is our phone system at the time would keep track of how long the call was from once it was picked up to when it was transferred, and finally to when it ended. So, when this call was transferred to me, it was a quick issue — the customer had just forgotten what the Level 3 password was. So, in 15 seconds or less, I gave them the password and they said, ‘OK that’s all I needed… Goodbye.’ So then when I went to write up the call and put how long the call was, what do you know, it was like a six-and-a-half minute call. Of course, I had to go up and razz Susie since there were only two people that talked to the guy and my portion was only 15 seconds!

RIP Susie…. You will always be Duck Lady to me…

• Kevin Meek, Senior Trainer