Paying it Forward
Who We Are
Our History
What does it mean to “pay it forward?”
To Mick and Susie McMurry, the answer was simple. It meant everything.
Mick and Susie did not grow up in wealthy households, but they did grow up understanding the importance of community. When you are a vested member of a community there is a desire and responsibility to lend a helping hand when you can, to be kind to your neighbor, and to build up the people and places around you.
After graduating from the University of Wyoming, Mick and Susie went to work in our Wyoming communities — Susie a schoolteacher and Mick a businessman and entrepreneur. In the early 1990s, after years of hard work, Mick and his business partner John Martin, experienced what Mick always described as “luck and guts” when they successfully developed the Pinedale Anticline and Jonah Field in southwest Wyoming.
And in 1998, instilled with the importance of community, Mick and Susie founded the McMurry Foundation. They had a goal to simply help “Build a Better Wyoming.”
When asked why they choose to start a foundation, Mick responded, “The IRS says you can give away 40 percent of your adjusted gross income per year. We felt we could do a better job reinvesting that money locally than the federal government could ever do.” Today, 25 years later, Natrona County and the State of Wyoming still feel the effects of the McMurry’s sense of community and selfless generosity.
In its first 15 years, the McMurry Foundation awarded more than $49 million to organizations and causes around the state. The most notable are the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming Medical Center, the Casper Family YMCA, and the Boys & Girls Club of Central Wyoming. However, Mick and Susie were not exclusively about the larger organizations. They thought it was also important to recognize the “little guys” such as local catholic churches, 4-H groups, and other small non-profits. Susie was a force of giving to the Child Development Center of Natrona County and was instrumental in creating CASA of Natrona County. Susie also spent a lot of hands-on time volunteering at the Wyoming Medical Center. It was important for her not only to give financially, but also be a friendly face and someone to talk to in the hardest times of people’s lives.
Mick and Susie were catalysts to making Wyoming a more giving community. When Mick sadly passed away in 2015, Susie had the “guts” to carry on their legacy. It is no easy feat following the footsteps of a man with such a giving heart. Susie spent the rest of her life contributing to the Casper community and championing the giving spirit she and Mick started as a team. Susie passed away in February of 2023. In her last eight years of life, the McMurry Foundation invested another $55 million into organizations throughout Wyoming.
In a personal interview, Susie reminded her loved ones and the people of Wyoming how family played a large role in who she became. She did not want for material things. As long as she had her family, she was happy. Her love for family grew into her ability to advocate for those in need such as the sick and dying, children, and people of faith in God. Her love for others always led back to her love and commitment to her husband Mick.
When you think of “paying it forward,” the McMurry Foundation hopes you remember the legacy of Mick and Susie and never turn away from an opportunity to lend a helping hand in your community.
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Our Future
Mick and Susie McMurry’s giving spirits and immense generosity will live on through the McMurry Foundation as the next generations of the family have joined the mission to continue “paying it forward.” Trudi Holthouse, Mick and Susie’s daughter, and her husband, Tyler Holthouse, have jumped at the opportunity to continue giving to Wyoming communities. With some “luck and guts” of their own, they will push to keep reinvesting in what matters most to the Foundation.
The third generation of McMurry givers begins with granddaughter Tayla Trujillo. She brings a fresh perspective but the same giving spirit and love for Wyoming to the McMurry Foundation. “It’s in our family nature. It’s as simple as that. Nana and Papa helped instill in us what it means to pay it forward; how it feels to give when someone is in need. We are honored and proud to be able to carry their legacy on and make it our own,” says Tayla.
The future is bright for not only the McMurry Foundation but the State of Wyoming. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Moving forward the McMurry Foundation will partner with other foundations, organizations, and agencies to ensure we are all Building a Better Wyoming.
Our mission
The McMurry Foundation invests in innovative ventures as well as established community programs that have the potential to make a lasting difference. We provide seed money to start new programs as well as general funds to expand or improve services offered by established agencies. We also help organizations within our community become more self-sufficient through strategic planning, increasing management capacity, and board development, in order for these organizations to better serve community needs. As we move forward, we will continue to nurture the spirit of innovation while discovering how communities can learn from and share more productivity with each other. In carrying out our work, we are guided by the values of excellence and compassion.