The Silver Creek Team
We're looking forward to meeting you!The Silver Creek Team
Cathy Johnson
Licensed Tax Consultant / Enrolled Agent / President of Silver Creek Financial Services, Inc.
In January 1977, I began Neal’s Tax & Accounting. My first clients were a local gas station owner who hired me to keep his books and a fabric store chain who paid me to balance their checking accounts. The next clients were two local carpenters, then a logging company. I quickly added tax preparation services to the accounting work, preparing 15 tax returns the first year.
In the early 1990s, I felt the business had grown way beyond just me and that it deserved a new name. Neal’s Tax & Accounting became Silver Creek Financial Services, Inc. The business has continued to grow both in the number of clients served, the number of professionals working to serve them, and the depth of knowledge and experience in our team. We are all thankful to our clients for their business, their trust and their loyalty.
When I am not in the office, I enjoy spending time with my grandchildren, cooking, hiking, reading and traveling. I also enjoy my involvement in the Lostine Presbyterian Church, Promise Investors, and the Oregon Association of Tax Consultants, where I serve as Vice-President in charge of continuing education at the local level, and state secretary.
Life is full and I am blessed!!
Shannon “Cissy” Shelton
Licensed Tax Consultant Accountant
Cissy has been serving Silver Creek clients since 1990. In addition to her bookkeeping and payroll clients she specializes in family farming, education credits and non-profit tax preparation. She and her husband Skip live in Lostine and have four grown children. When not at work she enjoys spending time with her family, which now includes nine grandchildren. She loves to camp, travel, read and do hand crafts as well as volunteering for various charitable organizations.
Tracy Frei
Accountant
Tracy Frei joined the Silver Creek team in 1997 as our primary payroll professional and QuickBooks accounting specialist. Tracy moved to a part time, distance position in 2015. This has enabled her to spend more time with her four grown children and two grandchildren. She enjoys traveling, seeing and experiencing new things. Her favorite places to vacation are the happiest places on earth – Disney! She goes whenever possible.
Melissa Wight
Licensed Tax Consultant Accountant
Melissa has worked at Silver Creek since 2001. She specializes in individual and business tax returns. Melissa and her husband, Dale, moved to Joseph in the mid-1980s and she soon thereafter started her own bookkeeping business. Melissa and Dale also own Eastern Oregon Window Services, a window and blind cleaning service. They have two grown children. She loves to travel and explore places in this country when she can. She is also very involved as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Conley Didier
Reviewer
Conley is part of our quality control where he works diligently to ensure we have done our tax work accurately and completely. He works quietly and efficiently so we all do the best we can.
Jeanette Hibbert
Front Office
Jeanette is a valuable part of our front office team. She helps manage the office while doing payrolls and accounting.
Her desire to serve our clients and her sincere warmth bring joy to the office.
Jeanette and her husband have two children and enjoy spending time in the outdoors hiking and operating their little goat ranch. Besides working full-time at Silver Creek, Jeanette makes and sells hand-made soap from goat milk she milks herself.
Linda Estes
Licenced Tax Preparer Accountant
Linda joined Silver Creek in 2012. She has earned her tax preparer’s license and this year will be quality control.
Her years of experience help us to produce accurate returns. Linda and her husband, Joe, have six children.
In her free time she enjoys horseback riding, camping and spending time with her family..
Kristen Brockamp
Licensed Tax Preparer Accountant
Kristen Brockamp joined the Silver Creek team in 2015. Her expertise is in individual and business tax returns. Kristen and her husband, Matt, moved to Wallowa in 2009 where they own and operate Brockamp Land Surveying, LLC. This business background has helped Kristen quickly learn the art of preparing income tax returns.
They keep busy with all the aspects of raising three busy children including their school athletics and activities. In any spare time Kristen can find in her busy life, she enjoys traveling, reading and being with her family.
Justin Bird
Accountant
Hi, my name is Justin Bird, I am 34 years old and have lived in Wallowa County for most of my life. I moved to Bend, Oregon after graduating Joseph High School to attend college at Central Oregon Community College where I studied Accounting. After 3 years in Bend, Oregon I moved to Anchorage, Alaska due to a work opportunity. I spent 2 years in Anchorage painting houses before returning home to Wallowa County to do the same type of work. I then attended University of Phoenix online to finish my schooling and earn my degree in accounting.
I helped start-up my own painting business in 2014 named Lake City Painting, LLC which I worked for 6.5 years before recently taking a new position as an accountant/tax preparer for Silver Creek Financial Services, Inc. Before that I held positions as a contractor, golf course groundskeeper, and Nike Sales Representative.
I love family and friends, fishing and hunting, being outdoors in general, hanging out with friends, playing cards, video games, listening to music, and traveling.