It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of Greg Colson, Moore Colson’s co-founder and former managing partner. In 1981, Greg Colson, Jack Moore and Bill Murphy founded Moore Colson with a staff of three professionals, one bookkeeper and one receptionist. Greg, Jack and Bill set out to create a CPA and advisory firm that provided high-quality accounting and consulting services for closely-held businesses, but also a firm that was different. They succeeded.
At Moore Colson, Greg found joy in helping closely-held businesses with strategic planning and profitability enhancement. As managing partner from 1981 through 2008, Greg led the firm as it grew to 60 people, added multiple practice areas and created a reputation for quality work. Greg had a service and relationship mentality that endeared him to clients, many of whom became life-long friends. But what everyone at Moore Colson remembers most is the impact that he had on the firm’s culture, which continues to thrive today. Greg often stated that his priorities were “Faith, Family and Firm – in that order,” and he did his best to mentor his partners and staff toward those priorities. We often ask ourselves when we are dealing with a challenging situation, “what would Greg do?”
Greg also understood from the beginning of Moore Colson that we should be different. The foundation of the firm’s culture and business philosophy go back to Greg’s belief that nothing should get in the way of giving clients the best we have to offer. In order to seamlessly deliver our best, Greg knew we needed to operate as a cohesive team focused on our clients’ needs, rather than individual books of business. This philosophy was embedded in the firm’s culture from the very start, and the legacy of teamwork, collaboration and unity at Moore Colson is well preserved within the firm’s DNA today.
“Greg’s impact on our firm is extremely significant to our culture and our client service model,” said Bert Mills, who has been the firm’s managing partner since 2013. “Greg’s consultative philosophy and his client relationship style are attributes we strive to teach everyone at the firm, and we hope those traits will permeate our firm forever.”
Giving back to the community was one of Greg’s many passions. He was actively involved in his church (Johnson Ferry Baptist and then Lake Oconee Church) and numerous nonprofits, through the years including: Feed My Lambs, Right from the Heart and North GA Walk to Emmaus. He was passionate about serving those in need and improving the organization in which he served. One of his greatest passions was mentoring a group of ten 7th grade boys from JFB on Tuesday nights at his house with food, fellowship, biblical teachings and lessons for life. He mentored this group weekly through their high school years until they graduated. Some of these graduates have followed his model and mentored their own group as a result of Greg’s influence.
Greg loved golf and time away with his wife Sue and daughters Keely and Andrea at Lake Burton and then Lake Oconee. Being a kid at heart, Greg annually took the family to Disney World, which began when the girls were barely old enough to walk and continued with their families and the four grandchildren even up until this last year.
In the accounting profession, Greg, a CPA and graduate from Georgia Southern University with a B.B.A. in Accounting, was a dynamic leader in one of the largest associations of independent accounting firms in the world, PrimeGlobal, formerly known as IGAF Worldwide. In June 2004, Greg was named chairman of the board for North America after he served as treasurer for many years; he was re-elected as chairman in 2006.
Greg retired in 2010 and enjoyed many years of spending time with his family and close friends. He remained a partner of Moore Colson until his very last day.
Greg was truly a gift from the Lord who made an incredible difference in the lives of so many people. We will be forever blessed by his legacy and influence – and inspired to share this gift with others through how we lead, how we love and how we serve.
Memorial arrangements will be announced in the next few days, and we will send another email once more information is available.
We hope you will enjoy the pictures below – a few of our favorite memories from Greg.
