Kathy Storck

When Kathy Storck took a job with Racine-area Southeastern Savings and Loan in 1979, location was a key factor. “It was just two doors down from where my husband, Jim, and I rented an apartment on our return from his military service in Germany, which meant we wouldn’t need a second car right away,” she explains.

She also recalls questions during her interview about how long she intended to stay. She could not have predicted that, when Southeastern was acquired by North Shore Bank five years later, she would be well on her way to building a career that would last 33 years.

This teacher-turned-banker started as a CSR and became CSR supervisor six months later. She went on to work at our branch in Racine’s Regency Mall, and then at the downtown Racine office as branch manager.

Burlington was her next stop, again as branch manager. She became a district manager in 1999, was a district operations manager for a time, was a district manager again, and in 2010 was named vice president-branch operations specialist.

Mentors, co-workers are memory highlights
Darrel Eisenhardt and former banker Jack Fisher stand out in Kathy’s mind as important mentors. She was breaking into management at a time when the financial sector was still dominated by men. “They always supported me and believed in me, and it meant a lot,” Kathy says. “I think of them as both friends and bosses.”

She insists on adding, “There are so many people who have been kind and caring, and they are the reason I have stayed at North Shore Bank so long.”

It’s hard to imagine, but Kathy recalls that North Shore, formerly a savings and loan, did not offer checking accounts until almost the 1980s. “In the early days, we had savings accounts, we did lending, and we had CDs with interest rates over 16%,” she says.

Watching recordkeeping transition from paper to electronic has been an exciting advancement — one that, along with other technological changes, has revolutionized the financial sector.

Helping others has been a joy
Kathy’s greatest satisfaction and reward has been helping others achieve the highest possible level of success and knowing that she had a role in it. “It has been such a joy to work with people from so many branches and departments,” she says. “Yes, there were some rough days, but I’ve always enjoyed getting up and going to work in the morning.”

She encourages people starting out to always be open to change. “And with any job, to be successful and happy, you have to really like what you do.”

Kathy says she “fully supports” North Shore Bank’s recognition as a top workplace. “I could not have chosen a better employer. North Shore is a caring bank. If someone has a problem, everyone works hard to do whatever it takes to be accommodating and help the person through it.”

Kathy lauded for work ethic, leadership, dedication
“Kathy has been instrumental in the success of North Shore Bank and our customers,” says Vice President of Branch Operations Sue Doyle. “We are grateful for her hard work, strong work ethic and leadership.

“Many employees have turned to Kathy for guidance and credit her as a mentor to their success. After 33 years of service, we couldn’t be happier for Kathy, as she now has more time to enjoy travel adventures and relax in the north woods with her husband. Thank you, Kathy. We wish you a long and happy retirement.”

Kathy’s life is about to change — significantly — when she retires this Friday, Sept. 28. She and Jim are close to both sides of their families and are in the habit of seeing a lot of them, as everyone lives within an 80-mile radius. “We’re moving 300 miles away,” she says, “but we’re hoping they’ll all plan to visit often.”

They’re building a home on three acres of lakefront property in northern Wisconsin that has snowmobile and ATV trails practically out the front door. “We plan to take full advantage of these,” Kathy says.

“Kathy will be truly missed,” says Senior Vice President, Retail Banking Steve Steiner. “For the past 33 years, every day she has done well by her fellow team members, customers and the bank, and you can’t ask for any more than that.”

Kathy is spreading her wings. She got into banking so that she could stay close to home, and now she’s relocating hundreds of miles away to create a new home and start a new chapter in her life.