Greenleaf Trust Opening Grand Rapids Office; Appoints New Team

Thomas DeMeester and John Grzybek Bring Nearly 50 Collective Years of Local Experience

July 2016, Grand Rapids, Michigan – Kalamazoo-based Greenleaf Trust, the privately-held wealth management firm with over $8B in assets, announces the appointment of two long-time, local wealth management leaders, Thomas A. DeMeester and John G. Grzybek, to head its new office in Grand Rapids, opening in late Autumn, 2016.

“We’re enthusiastically making a significant investment in Grand Rapids,” said Greenleaf Trust president, Michael F. Odar. In conjunction with Greenleaf Trust, Catalyst Development purchased the six story building at 25 Ottawa Avenue, with tenants including Spectrum Health’s Information Technology Department, Fairly Painless Advertising, and Iron Restaurant.

Greenleaf Trust’s ground floor office will initially be staffed by five people with expertise in wealth management, family and foundation services, trusts and estates and retirement plan services.

DeMeester, who will serve as Managing Director, and Grzybek, as Director of the Family Office at Greenleaf Trust, worked together previously at Fifth Third Bank, and bring nearly five decades of combined experience in Grand Rapids to their new roles with Greenleaf Trust.

DeMeester joins Greenleaf Trust from Northern Trust Company, where he was a Senior Wealth Strategist. Prior to that, DeMeester was Sales Director in the Private Bank division of Fifth Third. He practiced law for 14 years in Grand Rapids. A graduate of Cedarville College, DeMeester earned his Juris Doctorate from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

John Grzybek was a founding member and Senior Relationship Manager of Mirador Family Wealth Advisors at Fifth Third Bank. Prior to that, he was Director of Wealth Strategy and Senior Relationship Manager in the Special Client Group of Old Kent Bank. An attorney, Grzybek earned his Juris Doctorate at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.