When Teller Bev Wendt says good-bye on Saturday, after more than 17 years with the bank, she’ll leave behind more than a job.

“The customers, they become family,” Bev says. “I’ve been invited to their parties, attended weddings and funerals, and shared in many happy and sad times with them.”

She’s shared in some funny times, too. Like when she was working the drive-thru and thought she saw a poodle in the passenger seat next to a customer.

“I asked if he wanted a doggie biscuit,” she says. “Turns out it was his mother, with big puffy hair!”

And once, she recognized a customer ahead of her in line at Shopko. He was short about a dollar and preparing to run out to his car to get the necessary cash, much to the dismay of some of the people waiting behind him. Bev stepped up, stopped him from going anywhere, and gave him the money.

“He was so grateful. He yelled at everybody in line, ‘That’s my banker!'” she recalls. “I said, ‘I know you’re going to pay me back.'”

Bev had worked in a retail for almost a decade when she responded to an ad and got a position at what was then TCF Bank in January 1998. Banking offered a change in pace — although not necessary a slower pace. “It was so different,” she says. “It was just so enormously busy. We started at six in the morning, because the drive-thru opened at 6:30. And at that time, we couldn’t have chairs to sit down, so we were standing for about 12 hours a day.”

When North Shore Bank took over TCF a few years later, she says, the transition was a little rough. In a gesture of goodwill, NSB sent new checks to all the former TCF customers. Unfortunately, a number of those new checks had typos or other design problems. “Our back counter was just piled high with [returned] check blanks,” Bev says.

Making crafts, hitting the road
Bev has always worked at the Menasha branch, but has held several positions: teller, supervisor, trainer. She also has a vocation outside of the bank — for years, she has made crafts and sold them at local craft shows.

Most of her crafts are meant for fall and Christmas. She loves to go looking for items to turn into a project. “Ornaments, baskets, coffee cups — I pick up whatever I see that looks like a piece of junk I can make something from,” she says. She donates some of her work to nursing homes, and also donates earnings from her crafting to the Humane Society.

Now that she’s done working, Bev and her husband, Jerry, plan to indulge their love of travel. They recently visited Michigan and will head to Wendover, Nevada in a few weeks, where she and Jerry will do a little gambling. “He likes to lose, I like to win,” she jokes. “That’s why I play the nickel slots.”

Bev names Training Specialist Jan Born and Branch Manager Deb Cumming as two colleagues who’ve been especially important throughout her career. “Jan is so calm and patient and a good listener. And thanks to Deb for putting up with me for so long!”

She’s also having a retirement party for her coworkers and customers, which should prove to be a lot of fun and happy memories for everyone involved.

“Bev’s got a big heart and takes personal interest in her coworkers and her customers,” says Assistant Branch Manager Jill Heule. She will be greatly missed by many!”