After 27 years working within the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference, Pam Kaiser retired in April, helping to close a final set of financial books as she did. During a celebration of her time with the conference on May 10, current and former colleagues and friends spent time wishing Kaiser well and sharing remembrances. Among them was Inge Hart, a former conference staffer and current Wesley Homes resident who trained her 27 years earlier.
Former PNW Conference Treasurer Rev. Craig Parrish described Kaiser as a force, someone who worked hard, whom he could rely upon to get work done and to share her ideas on how it should be done. Several other guests, including former assistant treasurer Rik Jamieson and recently retired Bishop Elaine Stanovsky, also offered gratitude and reminiscence. Those who wish to send acknowledgment cards can direct them to the conference to be collected and forwarded.
Among those present for Kaiser’s retirement was newly hired PNW Accountant Liz Gough. Hired in January, Gough has already impressed colleagues with her calm and deliberative approach.
“We are excited to have Liz on our team supporting the great ministry happening across our conferences and the Greater Northwest Area,” offered Alaska and PNW Conference Treasurer Brant Henshaw. “As she continues to get the proverbial ‘lay of the land,’ I expect our appreciation for her many gifts and work ethic will also grow.”
The daughter of a Navy captain, Gough grew up in Japan, Hawaii, and Virginia, but her family was grounded in Central California. She attended Fresno Pacific University, a Mennonite college — where she double majored in English and Biblical Studies. She met her first husband there, and they moved to Boston, where he attended Harvard Divinity School, and Liz began a 15-year career in commercial banking while raising their three exceptional kids.
After a decade in Boston, Gough returned to California, settling in Sonoma County. She transitioned from banking to small business ownership, growing a chain of local coffee houses and roastery and winning the SBA Small Business of the Year award for Northern California.
In 2010, recently divorced, Gough received a Facebook friend request from a high school sweetheart, now a Boeing engineer, never married, and living in Seattle. Fast forward to today, where they are happily married. Before joining the office staff, she most recently worked as Controller for a small Seattle manufacturing business until Covid shut things down.
“My husband and I enjoy travel, grandkids, and music — lots of music,” shared Gough adding that she sings soprano in The Boeing Employees Choir and has helped lead worship at Kent United Methodist Church for the past dozen years. “I’m happy to be back at work at the PNW Conference!”
You can contact Liz Gough at (206) 870-6835 or lgough@pnwumc.org.
