Ron Pritchard

It was North Shore Savings & Loan when Ron Pritchard signed on in October 1986. Our name is merely one of many things he has seen change since then.

And now, Ron is making a notable change of his own: April 17 will be his last day at North Shore Bank.

“It was just time after 43 years in the banking business,” he says. “And baseball season is about to start.”

His present title is Credit Analyst, but Ron has worn a number of hats over the last 26 years. He has worked on all five floors of our Corporate headquarters, doing everything from consumer underwriting, indirect lending, loan training and telemarketing, consumer loan marketing and advertising, loan program development, corporate marketing and residential mortgage underwriting.

“The journey has been one continuous education,” he says.

Ron began his career while he was still in high school, as a part-time teller at State Bank in Milwaukee/Germantown. At the time, bars on teller windows remained a commonplace sight, and ATMs existed only in inventors’ wildest imaginings. Computers were gargantuan boxes; the machines took up “pretty much the equivalent of 75 percent of the full fifth floor of Corporate,” he remembers.

After graduation, Ron joined the Marines, serving in Vietnam and later as a member of the military police in the Carolinas. When his father died, he returned to this part of the country to help his mother and young sister. He completed his enlistment at a base in Glenview, Ill., and then returned home to Milwaukee. His previous banking experience helped him find work in the financial sector, and he worked several places before coming on board at North Shore S&L.

He’s covered a lot of ground here since then. “I can say at this point I don’t know what type of lending I haven’t approved or in some cases denied,” he says.

Ron credits more than a few people with guiding him throughout his career — noting that “many of them are now deceased, or of course retired or near retirement.” In the early years, he was helped by Harvey Kaeniser, Frank Muesbach and Bill Schuetknect, all three local community bank presidents. More recently, he points to former head of marketing Dick Ross; former Consumer and Commercial Lending Service Manager Larry Stanul; JoAnn Flynn, the former secretary to North Shore Bank’s president; former Chief Lending Officer Dave Potter; and Chairman and CEO Jim McKenna.

“These people had integrity. They loved the financial industry and had a strong desire to help others reach their financial goals, as well as to get their customers what they needed and was available during their time,” Ron says. “They treated their employees well and protected them, with stable employment and growth in good — but also some very difficult — times.”

He’ll miss his relationships with co-workers and other work connections most. He will not miss wrestling with compliance and policy issues that make it harder to grow and make life more difficult for customers.

“I’ll miss his depth of experience,” says Ron’s current boss, Jim Saladin, VP of Consumer Credit and Collections. “Ron’s seen a lot, and I’ve always valued his opinion because of that. He’s a details guy, and he is always willing to go the extra mile. We’ll miss him. Someone who’s been here that long — it’s different when they go. But we’re very happy for him too.”

Outside of work, Ron and his wife, Jean, celebrated 40 years together last year. They have three grown children — all employed as elementary school teachers in the Menomonee Falls and Brookfield school districts: son Tony, married to Kim; daughter Jenny, married to Neil; and daughter Tania, married to Dan. Ron and Jean have seven grandchildren to spend more time with now too: Macie, Lainey, Kobe, Livvy, Jack, Lilly and Lexi, ranging in age from 9 years to 11 months.

Besides being with his grandkids, Ron plans to do some part-time work and volunteer. He may also travel back to Vietnam — this time in a mission capacity with his church.

And while he will miss the people he works with, he is looking forward, as he’s always done. He wouldn’t change a thing, he says, about his time at North Shore Bank.

“I was always taught to not look back and think ‘What if?’ this or that. If it felt right to do at the time we did it, it’s right now as well,” he says. “I have no regrets!”