A Tribute to Laurie Strickland: Remembering Her Impact & Achievements
Posted on Apr. 8, 2022 / Member Spotlight / Subscribe 0
CO-AUTHORS: Sylvia Wheeler, Principal, Neighborhood Design; Virginia Steigerwald, Marketing & Proposal Specialist, Nitsch Engineering; and Anna Luciano, Director of Marketing, Nitsch Engineering
Our SMPS community mourns the loss of an outstanding marketing professional and leader, colleague and mentor, and dear friend with the passing of Laurie B. Strickland, FSMPS, CPSM on March 4th, 2022. Laurie represented the best of our profession, combining consummate organizational skills with a can-do attitude that inspired others to reach higher. She persistently demonstrated her commitment to teamwork as both an essential and enjoyable component of success. Working with Laurie was a fun, creative adventure that culminated with her warm thanks for whatever part you played.
Laurie began her marketing career at Haley & Aldrich, Inc. as a marketing coordinator and over the next 25 years, as the company grew to 21 offices, her role expanded to corporate marketing manager. She later served as Director of Marketing for Nitsch Engineering where she spent 12 years leading the marketing team as the firm expanded in services and grew from one to four office locations. Laurie delighted in helping Nitsch achieve broad recognition as an industry leader and for its commitment to benefitting their communities.
She was a force for building and sharing the evolving tools of marketing, serving as a frequent speaker on an array of marketing topics. She served in many SMPS Boston Chapter positions including President (2007-2008), and won the SMPS Boston Leadership Award in 1993 and Marketing Professional of the Year in 2015. An SMPS Fellow since 2011, Laurie was integrally involved in many national and regional conferences and educational programs. One of her favorite projects was working with marketing experts across the country to develop the MARKENDIUM books in 2016.
Laurie was a warm person with a ready smile and friendly greeting for friends and strangers alike. Laurie touched many lives, and her generosity of spirit shines through in the tributes that follow.
In 2015 Laurie received the Marketing Professional of the Year award from SMPS Boston. Here is her humble and inspiring acceptance speech.
Remembrances
When I joined Haley & Aldrich, Inc. in 1984, Laurie Strickland had been marketing coordinator for a year and had developed state-of-the-practice marketing systems that demonstrated her innate organizational skills and commitment to excellence. We bonded from the outset. Working as a team for 24 years, I was able to focus on the strategic marketing, business, and organizational development of the firm while Laurie grew her management capabilities, developing our talented marketing staff to meet the needs of an expanding national consulting practice. Our working relationship was based on mutual respect and embracing many of the same values. When I moved into another phase of my career, we remained close, regularly doing the things we both loved. From visiting museums, craft shows, and good restaurants to taking trips to explore new places. We looked forward to getting together, especially with old friends. She was great fun, with a wonderful sense of humor and a love of people that was infectious. She has left us all too soon and those of us who had the good fortune to know her well will carry her in our hearts always.
– Sylvia Wheeler Principal, Neighborhood Design
When I entered the AEC industry in 2005, I had a lot to learn – and was blessed when Laurie was one of the first people I worked with after joining SMPS Boston. In the year that we served together on what was then called the Education Committee, I learned a lot from Laurie – about the AEC industry overall, but also about management, delegation, and productivity. When she came to work at Nitsch Engineering as my manager a few years later, she always encouraged me to learn and grow – often in ways I wouldn’t have done without her guidance. Most importantly, Laurie always demonstrated that anything worth doing was worth doing with passion and joy. From developing a marketing plan to painting, from connecting with friends to traveling the world, when Laurie committed to something you knew she would follow through with passion. Thoughtful, practical, and kind, Laurie was a mentor and friend to me for 17 years. I’ll miss her – her stories, her ideas, and her laughter – and I’m so sad that our plans to get together “in the spring” won’t come to fruition.
– Anna Luciano, CPSM Director of Marketing, Nitsch Engineering
Like nothing else, work puts otherwise strangers shoulder to shoulder in a task. And it’s because of that common cause that you invariably develop a kinship based on humor, common values – perhaps just a profound, shared sense of subservience to our cat overlords. Laurie, my dear friend and mentor, I’ll always regret not taking you up on your offer to meet you at the beach during pandemic times. It was the last time we spoke on the phone. Something tells me, however, that’s where we’ll find you when we encounter you again. By the mighty sea. Sail on, my friend. May you find the sun.
– Glenn di Benedetto Multimedia Producer, Green Light N Go LLC
I was lucky to know Laurie, first as my manager at Haley & Aldrich, and then as a friend. When I started that job in 2002, I thought, “six months max.” It was because of Laurie and the marketing team that she and Sylvia built and nurtured that I stayed for over a decade. Laurie was a big part of my career growth, and having her by my side for proposals, team celebrations, and SMPS events meant the world to me. Some of my most cherished memories of Laurie are from the joy she shared when her nephew Jack was adopted, when she met her “new” cousin Steve and his family, and the happiness she got from travel, spending time with her friends, and her beloved cats. When I think about the many positive ways Laurie influenced me, it always comes back to her being a caring, gentle, and thoughtful soul. She helped me be a better leader, coworker, and person. I know her influence lives on through those of us who were lucky enough to have known her.
– Vikki Ott Marketing and Communications Manager, United Way of Northern New Jersey
Laurie had an ability to relate to the CEO and the marketing coordinator and was able to support, encourage, and advocate for you. In true SMPS fashion, she was fun to be around.
– Matthew Hawk Strategic Pursuit Manager, Stantec
If you had a choice, you would always pick Laurie to be on your committee when it came to participation in SMPS. She loved the organization and the people in it. Laurie was smart, kind, funny, and talented. She was easy to be around and she always got things done without fanfare or ego. A few years ago when we talked about what retirement might look like, she expressed that although she would have more time for her art, she for sure would miss the daily community that she enjoyed at work and of course, SMPS. It was always easy to pick up with Laurie right where you left off with her even if it had been many months or years since the last conversation. If Laurie was your friend once, she was your friend always. I am happy to have known her and I am sad that she did not get more time to paint. Perhaps her heaven is just that, time to paint.
– Aurora Cammarata Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Advisor, Clean Start @ Iron Mountain
I had the great privilege of working with Laurie at Nitsch Engineering for nearly five years before she retired. I was hired as a Marketing Assistant, and under her leadership as our Director of Marketing she was a great mentor for me. She was very professional and had a tremendous wealth of industry knowledge. She was also kind and funny, and happy to make the time to talk to me and answer my questions whenever I needed. Her accomplishments throughout her career are impressive and inspiring. She will always continue to impact my career as I continue to grow as a marketer.
– Virginia Steigerwald Marketing & Proposal Specialist, Nitsch Engineering
Laurie was always so welcoming to have a conversation about marketing, communications, and certainly anything SMPS. She was such a good friend and a wonderful person. She will be missed.
– Chuck Raymond, CPSM Publications & Press Manager, Weston & Sampson
Laurie was a great mentor for me early in my SMPS career. She was the chair of the Education Committee when I first became a member and future SMPS President Anna Luciano was also a new member of that same committee. We were both just getting started with SMPS with Laurie. Laurie had this low-key intensity that I connected with from the first time I met her which, on a personal level, made it easier for me to learn from her about our industry and about SMPS. She was very even-handed, always open and warm and someone I enjoyed getting caught up with whenever I saw her throughout my career. She was well-liked and respected by her peers. There will be many others from our industry offering up their memories of Laurie as well.
– Jay Moskowitz Director of Marketing, City Point Partners
As a founder of SMPS Boston I had the privilege of meeting Laurie early in her career when she was a member of Haley & Aldrich’s marketing team. Her intelligence, responsiveness, and commitment were evident, and I loved watching her professional evolution through the years. She contributed to her profession and to the world of engineering through service on committees and boards, authorship of articles and essays, and participation in conferences and workshops. She leaves a legacy of people whose careers and lives she enhanced and of organizations that benefitted from her skills and personal attributes.
– Jean Valence, FSMPS, MAA, Hon AIA Retired
Generous in sharing her time and knowledge, Laurie's life made a difference to so many colleagues and friends. She had a genuine interest in helping SMPS members and others succeed and in celebrating their successes. We shared many interests like traveling and painting; and even both had lived in Colorado and had pen pals in Scotland. I have especially fond memories of visits to art museums with her, and sharing our ideas. She will be missed by so many people, including me.
– Bonnie Sloan, FSMPS Retired
There are many things I admired and loved about Laurie; she was definitely someone I looked up to in the industry who really embodied what it meant to be a marketing leader within the AEC landscape. Mostly I liked our lunches at Les Zygomates one of her favorite spots. She would share guidance and we would also share lots of laughs at those lunches; if you know Laurie she had an incredibly infectious and memorable laugh - one of the small but happy memories I have of my time with Laurie.
– Sarah McGillicuddy Associate Principal, Director of Business Development, BR+A Consulting Engineers
Laurie and I were colleagues for almost 30 years growing up in SMPS as marketing professionals within our respected firms and then striving to become industry leaders and Fellows. Even though I left Boston for over a decade to work in Chicago, we always reconnected each year at an SMPS National Conference, where ever it was held. Her warm-hearted greeting and wonderful laugh are so rememberable to me, as well as her pulse on the state of our profession. I will truly miss her presence at SMPS.
– Kate M. Brannelly FSMPS, CPSM, Strategic Marketing Officer, Acentech
Laurie was kind, giving, and funny. I was fortunate to serve on the SMPS Board with her and to work with her on several SMPS NERCs. She always kept the group focused on the goals at hand, but always with a lot of laughter along the way. I will miss her and that laugh!
– David Easterbrooks, FSMPS, CPSM VP, Business Development & Director of Marketing, Pare Corporation
Through the years, Laurie was someone I could rely on to help and offer a unique perspective. She was thoughtful and kind and wanted to make a difference. I will miss Laurie’s steadfastness, quick wit, and great smile.
– Lori Chicoyne Director of Market Strategy, Weston & Sampson
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