London, ON – After 25 years in the real estate business, Broker Richard Thyssen of Sutton Group-Select Realty Inc.* has received a special honour and responsibility: presidency of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR).  On January 1, 2010, he assumed his new role but it was certainly not his first with the association.  In 1985, soon after graduating from Fanshawe College with a General Business Certificate and additional courses in Sales and Marketing, Richard joined the real estate industry.  Five years later, the young sales associate was elected to the Board of Directors of LSTAR’s Marketing Division to represent the interests of local REALTORS®.

Rising through the Division’s ranks, Richard became its President in 1992 and continued to serve with the Marketing Division until 1995.  As a member of the Division’s Executive, he sat on LSTAR’s Board of Directors from 1991 through 1993.  He returned to the Marketing Division in 1998 and 1999.  He was honoured to receive LSTAR’s Outstanding Service Award in 1999.

To date, Richard has served on or chaired 24 LSTAR Committees, Task Forces and Advisory Groups.  He has been a Sutton Group Platinum Award winner since 1991.

“I have seen so many changes in my quarter of a century as a REALTOR®, most of them incredibly positive,” says Richard.  “In that time, I have seen us evolve from a trade organization to an association of highly-trained professionals.  The technology that many of us so feared in the 1990’s has revolutionized our business—to our advantage not our detriment.  At LSTAR, we face the future with anticipation and excitement… at the same time as we prepare to weather the next big storm.  Now is a great time to be a REALTOR® and an even greater time to be a volunteer leader.”

Richard was a dedicated Big Brother for more than a decade and last year, he became Chairperson of Dads Can, an organization that supports responsible and involved fathering.  “After my son Liam was born, it got me thinking about what kind of father I wanted to be,” says Richard.  “I believe that a father’s role is crucial to a child’s well-being and good development but too often men either don’t step up to the plate or don’t know how to be a good father.  Dads Can encourages healthy parenting.  It’s been a very rewarding experience for me and one that I believe in wholeheartedly.”

Sutton is a 100% Canadian-owned and operated company with more than 8,700 REALTORS® in over 200 offices nationwide.  To find out more about Sutton, visit www.sutton.com.  To learn more about Sutton Spirit, visit www.suttonspirit.com.

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Sutton Group Realty Services Ltd. Contact:

Gabriel Soh                 604-691-1610        stories@suttonspirit.com

Sutton Group-Select Realty Inc.* Contact:

Richard Thyssen          519-433-4331        rthyssen@sutton.com

* Independently owned and operated brokerage

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