our team

KATHI RICE
PRESIDENT/OWNER
Kathi was born and raised in Chippewa Falls, WI, graduating from McDonell Central High School in 1989. Kathi married Mitch Rice in 1999 and together they have six children – Dakota, Elise, Shawn, Dawson, Shanen and Sidney.
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Kathi has an Early Childhood background and worked at the YMCA in Chippewa Falls as the School-Age Child Care Director for 14 years. She then went on to manage two successful businesses for 10 + years and in 2018 decided to make a change and joined the Chippewa Valley Financial Services team as the Executive Assistant facilitating the investment piece of the business.
Kathi is a member of the Christian Mother’s Society at St. Peter’s Church, she is a member of the Tilden Lion’s Club and is the lead organizer for the Steppin’ Across Tilden for a Cause Run/Walk Event.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading, refinishing furniture and traveling.

LUARTA SODEN
SENIOR TAX ADVISOR, CHIPPEWA FALLS
Luarta was born and raised in Chippewa Falls, WI. She graduated from Chippewa Falls High School class of 1968 and then attended UW-Eau Claire, graduating with Bachelor of Education in Mathematics and Science.
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Luarta is married to Mike Soden and together they have two daughters, one son and four grandchildren. She is active with 4H, the Northern Wisconsin State Fair, military family support, the Lafayette Baseball program and the auxiliary for the local fire department.
In her free time she enjoys her annual snowmobiling trip, summer camping trips and relaxing during the off season.

SUSAN PEDERSON
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT (CPA), EAU CLAIRE
Susan earned a Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of Minnesota, Duluth in 1997. After working in public accounting for four years and earning her CPA license in Minnesota, she worked at Northwest Airlines and then Midwest Coca-Cola Bottling Company.
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In 1998, she left her accounting manager position at Coca-Cola to be a stay-at-home mom and home school her children. During this time, she was active in her church as a Sunday school and VBS teacher.
In 2005, Susan moved to her husband’s home state of Wisconsin and built a home on acreage of his parent’s homestead. With the graduation of her children, Susan rejoined the workforce and took a position with Apple Pregnancy Care Center and a local accounting practice and in August of 2020, she joined the Chippewa Valley Financial Services team.
Susan lives in Eleva with her husband Brian. In her free time she enjoys doing home projects (aka “marriage building projects”) going for walks and spending time with her children and family.

KATHARINE WOLFE, EA
ENROLLED AGENT, CHIPPEWA FALLS and EAU CLAIRE
Katharine was born and raised in Fall Creek, WI. She graduated from Fall Creek High School in 1992 and went on to further her education by attending Chippewa Valley Technical College and receiving her Associate Degree in Accounting.
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Katharine is married to Jody Wolfe and has four wonderful children – Adora, Benjamin, Kristina and Veronica. In her free time she loves to spend time with her family and go camping.

MICHELE MCCLAY
ACCOUNTANT, CHIPPEWA FALLS
Michele was born and raised in Park Falls, WI. She graduated from Park Falls High School in 1987 and went on to further her education, attending UW Superior to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics in 1991.
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Michele then moved away from Wisconsin and lived in Colorado and Texas. She worked as a bookkeeper, a daycare teacher and volunteered as a religious education teacher while raising her two children.
In 2007, she moved back to Wisconsin and in 2018, Michele started her career at Chippewa Valley Financial Services where she continues to work as an accountant.
In her free time, Michele enjoys spending time with her children who are the highlight of her life.

LAURIE SLAMA
Accountant, Eau Claire
Laurie was born and raised in Roseville, MN, a graduate of FB Kellogg Senior High School. She went on to further her education at Anoka-Ramsey Community College studying Computer Science and after graduation she taught math in a Christian school.
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In 1979, Laurie married her husband Dan and together they have seven children – Daniel Jr., David, Rebecca, Melissa, Elizabeth, Adam and Charity and twelve grandchildren – Lauren, (Daniel III) James, Sean, Grant, Aiden, Elodie, Dominic, Leanora, Lora, Aubrey, Adalynn and Wilson. Laurie was a homemaker and home-schooled her children until all seven were graduated.
Laurie then took a job as an office manager and also worked as a tax preparer for a few years before joining the team at Chippewa Valley Financial Services as an accountant.
Laurie enjoys volunteering at her church, reading, camping, gardening and spending time with her family.

Josh Stangret
Accountant, Eau Claire
Josh was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and moved to Wisconsin with his family in 1997. Joshua attended Cadott High School, graduating in 2014, and then attended Chippewa Valley Technical College, where he graduated in 2016 with an Associate degree in Accounting.
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Joshua went on to work for Royal Credit Union as a Member Account Representative and as a Deposit and Payment Specialist. In this time he also became a Certified Credit Union Financial Councilor. Josh joined the Chippewa Valley Financial Services team in June of 2021 where he works as an accountant and tax preparer.
In his free time, Josh enjoys spending time with his friends and family, reading, writing, and painting.