George L. (Chip) Griesbauer Jr.

Between traveling and golf, "retirement is great," said long-time administrator of the GCIU Supplemental Retirement and Disability Fund George L. (Chip) Griesbauer Jr.

Griesbauer said he and his wife Susan have traveled to Spain, Portugal, the Cayman Islands, and Cabo San Lucas on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico since he retired in January. They are planning many more trips.

A native of Bethesda, Md., Griesbauer became administrator of the SRDF in June 1980. A jointly trusteed fund that operates separately in the United States and Canada, the SRDF was established in 1966 and delivers four types of benefits: basic, supplemental, disability and vested.

As SRDF administrator, Griesbauer oversaw fund operations that included 85 local unions, some 25,000 participants, and total assets of more than $1.8 billion dollars.

Prior to joining the SRDF, Griesbauer served as administrator of the Bricklayers and Trowel Trades International Pension Fund. He also was a staff accountant with a Washington, D.C., certified public accounting firm, where he conducted and supervised audits of 14 international labor unions. He also served as comptroller with the International Association of Fire Fighters, where he was in charge of the accounting department.

Griesbauer attended Resurrection College in Kitchener, Ontario, and received his A.B.A. and B.C.S. degrees from Benjamin Franklin University in Washington, D.C.

Griesbauer said his favorite part of his job with the SRDF was talking to and helping GCIU members.

"We would do pre-retirement seminars and we would find out that, because there were different collective bargaining agreements in the same plant, there would be people who didn't know they were covered by a pension or which pension they were in. So, we brought some of the members from the darkness to the light. People who didn't know they were eligible for benefits walked away with a greater appreciation for everything."

Griesbauer also expressed his appreciation for the SRDF staff at fund headquarters in Washington. "I had a wonderful staff that I worked with," he said.

Having worked so many years helping others prepare for retirement, Griesbauer wasted no time in fulfilling his retirement dreams. Noting the rainy spring weather in Washington, he said he is playing golf when it doesn't rain.

As a retirement gift, his three sons and their families gave him classes at a cooking school, and he said he is enjoying experimenting with recipes.

"I'm just enjoying the retired life and being able to spend more time with my family," Griesbauer said.

At a retirement party, GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi presented Griesbauer a plaque on behalf of the union's officers and members. The plaque cited Griesbauer's:

• "Diligently monitoring trends through his many contacts with other pension funds and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans to ensure that assets experience optimal growth – with SRDF assets now totaling more than $1.4 billion that includes approximately $500 million in Canada. His keen financial insight has helped the Fund to grow to its current impressive assets.

• "Acute vision and foresight in obtaining technology which served plan participants from the first stages of the computer age when personal computers were considered a strange phenomenon and keeping abreast of technological advancements. His close attention to all details have served the Fund well.

• "Ability to work with SRDF employees and encourage them to grow and improve their skills through education for their jobs.

• "Dedication and service in providing information to participants with seminars throughout the United States and Canada so that participants could make choices that are most beneficial.

"We thank and commend Chip for his stellar contributions to the SRDF, the GCIU, and, most importantly, to the SRDF participants. We wish him and his wife Susan a much-deserved long, healthy, and happy retirement," the plaque read.