RETIREMENTS

Deb Cumming to retire after nearly 44 years with bank

When Deb Cumming retires at the end of this week, she will have spent just shy of 44 years—her whole career—in banking. In that time, she’s held all sorts of roles: teller, mortgage servicing specialist, personal banker, customer service supervisor, and branch manager. She’s retiring as the assistant branch manager of Menasha, a role she transitioned into from branch manager after she announced her intention to retire.

Deb started in banking at 18 years old, and looking back over her career, she said she truly loved it.

What have you enjoyed most about working for North Shore Bank?

What I have enjoyed most is the relationships with coworkers and customers over time. I enjoy the company. It offers so much career growth to help people become stronger at their jobs and more well-rounded. I would recommend that everyone take advantage of the opportunities the bank offers! You can gain so much knowledge. You understand more than just your role. It positioned me much better with a 360-degree picture of how the bank operates. 

I will miss very much what I do. There is nothing like helping customers get in a better position than when they came in—help them with a plan, get debt-free, or retire. There’s a great sense of a job well done when you’ve made somebody else’s dream possible.

What are your plans for retirement?

I’m lucky to have both my parents yet, so I’m looking forward to spending more time with them. My brothers live down south, so I can help my parents travel to visit them.

My husband, Dave, is retired, and it’s time for me to join him. He’s seven years ahead of me. He will have a second knee replacement soon, so I’ll be home to help him with that. I’m sure we’ll take some day trips. Wisconsin has so much to offer that we don’t take advantage of. 

I’ll have more time to do the things I want. I feel guilty now when I sit and read books or do cross-stitch! I’m looking forward to time for the little guilty pleasures I enjoy.

Deb’s coworkers had some kind words and well wishes to share as she heads into retirement. 

“Deb has been a true pleasure to work with for many years. Deb has always led by example in providing excellent service to her customers, and they truly enjoyed working with her. She will be dearly missed by her co-workers and customers. Her retirement after 43 years with North Shore Bank is truly deserved, and I wish her and Dave much happiness in retirement. — VP, District Manager Kerri Collins

“Deb has spent the last 43 ¾ years focusing on her customer’s needs and helping them achieve their financial goals. Our customers will miss having a true, trusted partner in their finances, while our team will greatly miss her knowledge, kindness, and, most of all, her sense of humor and singing. It has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside Debbie these past years.” — Community Engagement Manager Lacee Kalepp 

Congratulations to Deb on her long career! Enjoy retirement!

 

Dean Trout heads into retirement after 24 years with bank

Dean Trout, Senior Vice President and CIO, retires at the end of this month. His long career in banking started in Akron, Ohio, in the late 1970s. Over the decades, he’s worked for various banks and moved to Milwaukee in 2000 to take a position with Fiserv. Ultimately, he wanted to return to banking, so he took the position as North Shore Bank’s head of IT. 

A Senior Showcase article in Shorelines from February 2024 walks through Dean’s career, his motivations, and his thoughts about North Shore Bank. As he heads into retirement, Dean’s looking forward to spending time with his wife, Nancy, doing non-profit work, working with the church, a bit of travel, and spending as much time with family as possible. 

He reflects fondly on his time at North Shore Bank. 

“I will miss everyone here immensely. Relationships are the most important things we have,” he said. “An employee told me recently, ‘I can honestly say that when you say North Shore Bank is about YOU, that is a true statement.'”

Dana Scherff, who will follow Dean in the CIO role, is grateful to have worked with Dean. 

“I’d like to thank Dean for his years of support and continued confidence in me,” Dana said. “We’ve had quite a journey over the past 20 years. I’m so happy for him with his retirement. I know he’ll go on to do wonderful things in our community and spend quality time with his family.”

Dana’s excited about her new role and looks forward to taking on new challenges.

“Having an opportunity to expand my knowledge and responsibility to further support the bank is wonderful,” she said.

Congratulations to Dean on a great career! Enjoy what’s next! And congratulations to Dana!

 

Dennis White to retire from ‘best place I’ve ever worked’

Investment Consultant Dennis White, who retires next week, started with North Shore Investments in 2011, but has 30 years in the investment/financial services business overall. 

In the late 1980s/early 1990s, Dennis worked for a commercial finance company that paid for employees to go back to school to earn graduate and post-graduate degrees. He took advantage of that perk, earning an MBA from the University of Illinois-Chicago. 

When he found an opportunity to get into the personal finance/investment world, he took it and has worked in the field ever since. 

In retirement, Dennis and his wife, Karen, plan to spend time at their second home in Florida. Both are golfers, so they plan to hit the links in Florida and also when they’re in Wisconsin in the summers. 

Dennis said he is leaving North Shore Bank with nothing but positive feelings. 

“I can safely say that North Shore Bank is the best place I’ve ever worked,” he said. “Almost all work places are defined by the people and the internal culture. North Shore is second to none. I’ve enjoyed working with everybody in the branches and with my clients. NSB has a lot of terrific customers.”

He’s also greatly enjoyed his coworkers on the Investment Services team. 

“Erika (Milosevich), Jeff (Eichel), Jeff (Pieters), Roxanna (Bruss), and Ted (Green, recently retired also) have been outstanding people to share my time with at North Shore Bank,” he said. “Newcomers Joel (Leibengood) and Chris (Ersbo) will hopefully have the success and fun that we had.”

Erika had some kind words for Dennis as he moves into retirement.

“Dennis has been a real pleasure to work with the last 13 years and was always my go-to guy for tough customers, especially since we worked at the corporate office together,” she said. “He will be sorely missed, as well as his sense of humor! Hoping he enjoys more time in Florida going forward.”

Congratulations on your retirement, Dennis! 

 

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Photos of the week for Dec. 26

Way to represent! 

Community Engagement Manager Lacee Kalepp and Personal Banker Kelly Kading recently shared photos showing some extra-cute promoters of North Shore Bank. 03430

Kelly’s grandkids wore their blue and green bank T-shirts while having some crafting fun. 

And Lacee’s dog, Zeek, showed off his North Shore Bank spirit with his bank bandanna. 

Too cute! 

One more blast of Christmas cheer

Community Engagement Manager Stephanie Ruiz and her husband, Rafael, took adorable baby Liliana to see Santa for the first time. Of course, their “first baby,” dog Luna, had to come along, too. 

 

BRANCH NEWS

Elementary school kids receive gifts, thanks to Northland branch

The Northland branch collected presents and raised money to purchase gifts for children at a local elementary school. The presents were delivered just in time for Christmas!

 

HOLIDAYS

From special ornaments to vintage elves, family traditions abound

Shorelines asked for the family traditions that never fail to get you in the holiday spirit. Here’s a few your coworkers shared!

Kate Madderom, Senior Debit Card Operations Specialist

Long before Elf-On-A-Shelf, my family was visited by elves from Thanksgiving to the New Year. Four generations of my family have had the elves come to make sure we stay on the Nice list. Elves would appear all around the house right after Thanksgiving—hidden in windows, shelving, plants, closets, you name it. If we were on the Naughty list, we had a chance before Christmas to show how good we could be. The elves would report all their observations to Santa. They stayed until after the New Year to make sure we started the year on the right foot. Luckily, we always made it to the Nice list!  My son really disliked them reporting to Santa when he was young, but now he has them come to visit his home, too.

Catherine Degner, Senior Loan Funding Representative

The ladies’ group of my church gathered at a member’s home recently to prepare for Christmas. This huge poinsettia was the centerpiece of the room, and we enjoyed some homemade cookies with coffee and hot chocolate.

Nine ladies then took turns reading bible scriptures with a Christmas hymn sung by all after each reading. As a surprise, the host’s daughter had lovingly prepared homemade, festive-smelling, seasonal goat’s milk soap for each attendee and decorated each gift bar with a festive magnet and verse. A lovely evening was shared by all!

Kari Tuyls, Senior Contact Center Specialist

For as long as I can remember, my mom has always bought ornaments for my siblings and me for Christmas. The ornament always references a memory from that year or is significant to each of us. I now have carried on the tradition with my son. We love decorating the tree with them every year. Our collection has grown quite a bit. We tend to forget about some, and it’s a new surprise every year!

Carrie Feiker, Senior Deposit Operations Specialist

Something special to me at the holidays is a tradition I started when each of my children was born. Every year, “St. Nick” brings them a new ornament in their stocking (typically, they are the same or similar or represent something from that year. For example, when we moved to a new house, they received little house ornaments. This year, it was a traditional glass pickle to hide in the tree). By the time they are grown and decorate their own trees, they will already have a collection of keepsake ornaments!

 

SERVICE ANNIVERSARIES

Service anniversaries for December 2024

Congratulations to employees who are celebrating service anniversaries this month! 

40 years

• Ronald Olson, Process Risk Analyst

20 years

• Shamika Harris, Loss Prevention Representative

10 years

• Ryan Alfaro, Travelling Teller

 

Customer Loyalty Tip of the Week

Treat your “small” customers as well as you do the “big” ones. Each customer represents a lifetime business opportunity.

 

COMMUNITY CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Discover events and activities in and around your community

• Wild Lights at the Milwaukee County Zoo | Through Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024 | Milwaukee County Zoo | 10001 W Bluemound Rd, Milwaukee, WI 53226
• Put Your Best Financial Foot Forward in the New Year Seminar | Saturday, January 11, 2025 (11:00 AM) | North Shore Bank-Community Room | 4230 W. Oklahoma Ave., Milwaukee, WI