Starting at 16, Nancy LeClaire worked Sundays and summers at her parents’ bakery in Iron Mountain, Michigan. “My dad wanted me to work in the back,” Nancy remembers, “but I told him if I was going to work there, I wanted to be in front. I knew even then that I just had to be with people.”

Open House for Nancy LeClaire 3970 N Oakland Ave, Shorewood, WI Wednesday, August 20 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Celebrate Nancy’s retirement at the East branch in Shorewood. Details here.

She doubts her father ever realized how many customers benefited from her baker’s dozen count as she filled bags and boxes.

Nancy later spent 13 years in sales audit for JCPenney, which involved working in a room with no windows. “I really missed being with people,” she says.

That’s why wrapping up her professional career as our longtime receptionist — 34 years greeting people on the phone and in person at our East office — is bittersweet. “I have been blessed to have this position and to do what I love best,” she says. “My years at North Shore Bank have been some of the happiest of my life.”

Yet she admits, “I can’t be here forever. We all know when it’s time,” adding that last winter’s brutal weather played a role in her decision to retire.

Service, caring have earned affection and respect of generations
Nancy started at Badger Bank in 1980. ”We were just beginning to offer checking accounts,” she recalls. Badger merged with North Shore in 1995.

She takes great pride in the multiple generations of customers she has greeted and served. “I just love it when children come in with their piggy banks to open a savings account. Next thing you know, they’re off to college, and then they’re bringing in children of their own.”

She has welcomed the chiming of “Nancy’s here!” and the many hugs that have come her way through the decades. Besides greeting customers, she occasionally assisted the tellers and has filled in at our Corporate switchboard.

Nancy’s thoughtfulness has been demonstrated by the many cards she has sent when customers have experienced loss or serious illness, and she has picked up dinners from Shorewood’s annual June barbecue and delivered them to customers who were not mobile enough to get to the event.

Winter warmth awaits
Nancy is looking forward to leaving the cold behind when she heads for a condo in Naples, Florida, that two of her daughters, Rhonda and Marsha, and their spouses invested in recently. Another daughter, Deborah, will join them often. “I’ll walk every day, go to the fitness center, shop, go out to dinner,” she says.

That’s hardly what you’d consider slowing down, but it’s Nancy’s style. “I like to have a schedule — to get up in the morning, take a walk and do things that involve people.”

She has six grandchildren nearby, ranging in age from 18 to 32. “We celebrate everything,” she says. Counting Nancy, her offspring and their children and spouses, they have a dozen birthday gatherings every year — and that’s not including the holiday get-togethers!

Froedtert Community Memorial Hospital will gain a volunteer as soon as Nancy retires, a book club will add a member, and the senior community where she lives will have an additional active participant in the many activities it offers.

Praise, appreciation follow Nancy
Ever gracious, Nancy offers kudos to East Branch Manager Dane Didier. “He is absolutely wonderful. He not only is a terrific manager; he pitches in wherever needed so customers don’t have to wait.”

Dane returns the compliment:

“When I arrived at the East office a year ago, I was looking forward to working with Nancy, having heard all the wonderful stories about her interactions with customers. I was not prepared for just how big an impact she has on our customers … how invested she is in their lives, how just the sight of her lifts customers’ spirits, or how disappointed they are when she has the day off. How she is a shoulder to cry on, a warm hug and a smile to all who know her.

“On numerous occasions, I’ve watched her interact with three generations of a family as if she is one of their own. She is, in a word, adored.”

Dane shares this from a customer survey: “Nancy graciously and sincerely welcomes each customer and adds an air of elegance. Nancy is the jewel in your crown!’“

“I couldn’t agree more,” Dane says. “The lights in the East office will shine a bit dimmer when Nancy walks away from her desk for the last time. We will truly miss her.”

District Manager Craig Witz adds, “After 34 years of working with our East branch customers, Nancy has developed some truly wonderful relationships. How many of us get hugged at work — every day! How many of us have customers who bring in the latest addition to the family to meet us — and have that addition be the fourth generation of the family we’ve met? She is truly a gem and will be greatly missed.”

VP-Security Payments Manager in our Customer Support Center Lyneen Fischer sums it up this way:

“Nancy has always been the smile that greets both customers and employees. I remember so many years ago when I started, she sat at that huge round desk in the lobby. I was in awe that such a petite frame took up so much space with her caring ways and ability to create and maintain relationships with people. I always said to her, ‘I want to be just like you as I get older — but taller.’

“When you look up the word ‘classy’ in the dictionary, Nancy’s face should appear. I am fortunate to live near her so I can still get my Nancy fix when she retires. I join the many who will be wishing her a wonderful retirement full of joy and laughter.”