FOLLOW US ON:

LATEST NEWS

Loading News...

SUBSCRIBE

Enter your email address to
receive our monthly newsletter

VOLUNTEER

We are always looking for energetic people to help us with feeding, grooming, etc.
» Volunteer Now

BECOME A FAN

About Heaven Can Wait


Founder - Susan Schwartz
I was born in Portland, Oregon and raised primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area and, yes, made it successfully as a teenager through the unforgettable 60's.

After graduating from high school though and not going to college, I found myself beginning to go down the wrong path so I moved to Buffalo, New York to live with a sister and her husband. What was supposed to be a "get your head together" visit, turned out to be a 4-year stay. During those 4 years, I had several different jobs, but the most rewarding was working for a small animal veterinarian practice. That is the job in my life that was, indeed, my most favorite.

In Buffalo is where I met the then Congressman Jack Kemp. Before I realized the enormity of what I was doing at the ripe old age of 21, I moved to Washington, D. C. to begin a position in his office. From there it was to the White House, then back to Capitol Hill and then having had enough politics for one lifetime, I switched to law and became the Legal Assistant for the Senior Managing Partner of the largest law firm to handle matters before the Federal Communications Commission. (A couple of our clients at the time were Motorola and Westinghouse Broadcasting.)

After living on the East Coast for 15 years and going through a divorce, it was time to head back to California via Colorado. I could not get a job in Denver, though, because my resume I was told was a bit too intimidating. After about 3 months of pounding the pavement with no success, I was told of an attorney in Santa Ana who was being brought out of retirement and reopening his office to handle a case for ComputerLand. Bill Millard was being sued by 2 former employees. So off to Southern California I flew, had my interview, was hired and began working for Terry Giles, a well-known criminal attorney and businessman in Orange County. The case took 2 years to take to trial. We won, saved Mr. Millard and ComputerLand about $300 million and I no longer had a job.

So after law, I went into the real estate and escrow business as Office Manager for the now closed Western Mutual Corporation and as personal assistant to the owner and broker, Larry O'Rourke. As the Company began to fail, I again needed to move on and did so to Ventura County to marry my husband Mark.

My last full-time position, lasting about 5 years, was as Executive/Personal Assistant to John Philip Sousa, IV, the great grandson to the March King. John was the pioneer in selling annuities and other investments through the banks in their lobbies. Today investment banking is provided by almost every bank in the Country.

John closed his California office and moved to New York. I started to work for a custom home builder in 1997 as his part-time bookkeeper and office administrator. When my husband and I moved to the Paso Robles area in 2002, I continued to work for the contractor and started to rescue horses. Heaven Can Wait became a non-profit in January of 2003. That is my 24/7 job now; taking care of 28 abused, neglected and unwanted equines, fundraising to keep them fed and healthy and, of course, mucking the stalls and feeding them.

I don't get paid monetarily for what I do now; but I get paid by love and trust of those that have become residents of Heaven Can Wait.

Susan Schwartz
Founder and President

» Read more about Heaven Can Wait

» Learn how to Get Involved