Jeannie Schwenkner retires next week.
Consumer loan specialist Jeannie Schwenkner will retire next Wednesday, November 15, after 24 years with North Shore Bank. Jeannie has been involved in all sorts of activities at the bank during her time here, and her presence will be felt long after she leaves.
“When I think of the values of North Shore Bank, Jeannie embodies them at the highest level,” her current supervisor, commercial and consumer loan closing manager Barb Wisneski, says. “She has always held herself to the highest standards and treated everyone with respect and integrity. She gets an incredible volume of work done in her four hours daily, using every minute of every hour she is here. She is a true team player and helps our team, our internal customers, and our external customers at the highest level. I am going to miss her, her dedication, her smile, her great laugh, and the energy she brings to our team.”
That goes for a lot of us. Jeannie spoke briefly to Shorelines about her banking career and what’s next for her.
Are there specific mentors, bosses or colleagues who have been especially important to your career? How did they help you?
All of my managers have been influential in my career at North Shore Bank. I was first hired by Dave Beaumier under Dale Phillippo in the indirect servicing area (Shore Financial), located in the Brookfield Capitol branch, as a credit investigator. The indirect lending area was then moved to our corporate servicing area. I worked under Dave Potter and Donna Reddy (servicing both direct lending and indirect lending). I was then promoted to credit sales rep, under Michael Kellman and then Roy Whetter. And then the title was changed to consumer loan specialist under Missy Hayburn and now Barb.
Any favorite memories?
My favorite change was when we went from hand-typing loans to preparing all loans on computer. I sure don’t miss hand-typing loan documents.
And my favorite memories are the friends I’ve made here at North Shore Bank — I sure will miss all of them. There are too many memories to pick just a few. But I truly can say that I’ve loved my job. If anyone asks me about working at North Shore Bank, I would say the bank really cares about their employees.
If you had not gone into banking, what other career path might you have taken?
I would have gone into the healthcare area. I like caring for people, young and old.
What are your retirement plans?
I plan on spending more time with my family. My son and daughter-in-law live in Muskego, and I have granddaughters — Mackenzie and Adalyn — who love their “nanee” (i.e., ME). I will be moving to the Muskego area to be close to them. Due to my loss of sight, I am unable to do some of the crafts and reading I used to do. I am thinking of going to college, to review and audit classes. I would also like to look into some kind of volunteering.