Staff Accountant Sherri Kroening marks 20 years with North Shore Bank this week.

The last 20 years have been busy for Sherri Kroening — thank goodness.

“I do a huge variety of things here,” she says of her position as staff accountant. “I like that, because I like to be busy. My life is crazy at home — I get absolutely no sleep, so I don’t want to be bored. I literally would fall asleep.”

Boredom is what moved Sherri to answer a newspaper ad for spot in North Shore Bank’s Consumer Loans department. She had worked at Federated Bank in Butler, starting as a teller and getting promoted to the IRA department. When Federated merged with U.S. Bank, she ended up in the escrow department there — but eventually quit because she didn’t care for the downtown commute. In 1994, when Donna Reddy interviewed her here, Sherri was unhappily twiddling her thumbs doing data entry at an ad agency.

“There wasn’t enough to do,” she says. “I saw this job in the paper and thought, Maybe I should get back into banking. For some odd reason, I still remember what I wore to the interview: a white shirt and a tan skirt.”

At the time, Sherri and her husband, Eric, had been married only about a year and had no kids. Things soon changed.

A child’s — and mother’s — special needs
Sherri’s 18-year-old son Jake has severe epilepsy and autism. “He has very, very, very special needs. He’s nonverbal. He requires basically 24-hour care,” she says.

After eight years, Sherri moved from Consumer Loans to Accounting, at the urging of former controller Tony Cross. Her job at North Shore Bank has turned out to be a boon, and not just because it keeps her occupied when she’s not caring for Jake. “The most important thing that has kept me here is the flexibility of hours,” she says. “That’s very important to a mother who has children and one with very severe special needs.”

She uses food to manage many of Jake’s health issues, and what she’s learned has led to her “obsessively healthy lifestyle.” She started “really gung-ho working out” after her second son, Alex, was born 14 years ago, getting up at 3:30am to exercise, and she does yoga four nights a week. “I think it just helps with my overall stressful life,” she says.

A deeper appreciation for life
But don’t think Sherri is complaining. “My family lives by this saying: ‘Always treat people the way you would like to be treated.’ Reminding ourselves of this daily always helps, no matter what challenges you are faced with,” she says.

“So many people will throw the saying at you: ‘You’re never given more than you can handle.’ And I sometimes believe that,” she says. Being a parent to Jake has made her a stronger person, she says. “It makes you appreciate your life and health a heck of a lot more.”

And her work life is full of good times and good people, too.

“I typically work with Sherri over the phone,” says AVP Indirect Team Leader Bruce Craker. “I can’t help but think of her smiling while we talk — I can always hear it in her voice.”

“I have worked with Sherri for all of her 20 years here, and she is an awesome coworker and friend,” says Corporate Receptionist Nancy Hanson. “I can always rely on her to help me out with the corporate switchboard phones, especially when I’m in a bind. On a personal note, despite all that she has going on her life, Sherr is always able to balance home and work and stay in control. I admire her compassion and determination to make things happen in her life.”

“I have some really good friends here at NSB — relationships that have developed into friendships that I cherish,” Sherri says. “I thank Heather Stevlingson for her wonderful knowledge and what she has all taught me my past 12 years here in Accounting. Mr. McKenna has always been very thoughtful of my situation with my son, and that means more to me than he will probably ever realize.”

She remembers, “I was so young when I started and worked with some great individuals back then, too. Never thought I would be here 20 years later, but when you enjoy your job, you stay.”