Name: Denene Lemke
Occupation/Job Title: Tax Manager at Samford University
LVH Class Year: 2016
Vestavia resident since: 2004
In layman's terms or in a concise mission-statement-esque manner, describe your job. Simply stated I oversee tax compliance and research tax-related issues for the university.
What is most challenging about your job? Currently, anything immigration- or visa-related.
What was your favorite day of LVH and why? Education Day. We moved to Vestavia Hills for the schools, so actually seeing the different schools in the system was fun. I loved watching the teachers share the new and imaginative ways they are able to interact and engage students in learning.
Tell us about your class project. My project was Wald Park Recycling. We worked with the city to add recycling receptacles in the park, expand the city's contract with the recycling company, and then educate students on what can be recycled, along with what cannot. It was eye opening to learn what all goes into a project such as that, which I'd never really thought about before.
How did LVH impact your personal or professional life? I met and developed deep friendships with people that may have never crossed my path otherwise.
What did LVH teach you? There are opportunities for everyone to get involved in some aspect of the city. Most of us with children know the positive impact of parent involvement in our schools, but there are so many other areas that will further improve with engaged citizens.
What do you like most about our community? The schools. I'm constantly amazed by the opportunities my daughters have had and what they have learned in our school system.
What do you like to do for fun? Spending time with family and friends, traveling (cruising is my favorite), and watching movies.
What might people be surprised to learn about you? I never took dance as a child, so I've taken ballet and tap lessons as an adult. I would love to do it again if I could convince a friend to join me.
Finish this sentence: If I could have any superhuman power it would be ... the ability to teleport.
If you had to choose another career, what would it be? The practical answer is to be an accounting professor, but I'd love to work in a wedding dress boutique. That probably comes from watching too much "Say Yes to the Dress."
What is your greatest accomplishment? With my husband, raising our daughters in a loving, stable family.
If you could go back 10 years, what advice would you give yourself? Create your own definition of success.
