Her Gift Keeps On Giving
Suzanne Granoski was a woman with multiple talents and many gifts. Unscripted, she stayed on message and spoke with the stage presence of a natural-born motivator. A shining light went out when Suzanne left us on August 4. She died in Fairfax Hospital, after a brief illness. She is missed.
All of us at NVAR are profoundly sad about the loss of our Chair-Elect Suzanne Granoski. The only solace we can have from remembering her life cut short is that her legacy and contributions live on in our hearts, our memories and our plans. Her goal was to help NVAR elevate members to work smarter, to serve clients better and to help keep our industry in its forward momentum. She was a positive force among us and for that we are all incredibly grateful.
Many of us agree. Suzanne was colorful. Not just her clothes and her accessories, but also in her spirit. She had a distinctive style and elegance, likely sparked from her pre-real estate work at Talbots in Arlington, or from collegiate days at Trinity College and Oxford University. Vivid jewel tones and preppy styles a la Lilly Pulitzer or Kate Spade were her trademark. But it was her confidence, directness and warmth that made so many people love her.
Many of NVAR’s successes can be traced back to ideas from Suzanne’s foresight. She thought up the 2015 Nationals Barbecue-Bus Trip RPAC “fun’-raiser, now an annual event. She also suggested we feature Stephan Swanepoel, who was the keynote speaker at the 2015 convention. Suzanne gushed great ideas.
Always a “we” person, and never an “I” person, she delivered persuasive RPAC pitches emphasizing that RPAC was all about “you.” With exuberance, she would say, “RPAC starts with you. It is funded by you. It’s all about you. Realtors® need to have a voice, a seat at the table. RPAC is about the Realtor®, You, Your Business.”
All about giving back to the industry, Suzanne visited 10 local associations this year to prompt members to assemble phone banks to increase RPAC investments
Suzanne had an agenda and was always motivated: for her work as a Virginia Realtor®, her successes in charitable fundraising, for sharing her skills as a Buffini-student, or helping out at her son’s schools.
Born to an Irish Catholic family in Brooklyn, she was the oldest of three children: her brother Christopher and sister Megan. She graduated from the well-respected Lincoln-Sudbury High School in Sudbury, Massachusetts before attending Trinity College in Washington D.C. from 1985 to 1989, spending her sophomore year at Oxford University in England.
Suzanne’s contributions were visionary. The arm’s length list of her NVAR committee, forum and advisory group participation since she joined in 2005 is just one element of her dedication. She was a champion in our industry at the local and state levels and was just warming up as an NAR leader. She is survived by her husband James Granoski, an Alexandria attorney, and son Robert “Robbie,” who now works on political campaigns.