Mike Cross retiring from First Federal

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Mike Cross is retiring from the only career he has known since high school — nearly half a century ago.

Cross, president of First Federal Savings & Loan Association, announced recently that he is retiring August 31 after 47 years in the banking business — a career that began just after high school.

Cross, who graduated from Lincolnview High School in 1964, was in his senior year and planning to attend Ohio University when his principal, Bob Games, told him that what was then People’s Bank & Trust Company was looking for a bookkeeper and wondered if he might be interested in the job.

“I went up … 17 years old … met with (People’s President) Gaylord Leslie … did an interview … scared to death … Monday morning he called me and said ‘if you want this job, you’ve got it’,” Cross said. “At that time, I had to decide whether I wanted to work or go to college (and) decided I’ll put college off; I’ll go to work here and get a job and see how that pans out.”

Cross never did get to college, although he’s taken a number of advanced banking classes, but said he hasn’t regretted the choice he made.

Cross said he learned the banking business well under Leslie. “A great teacher, Mr. Leslie … couldn’t have had a better teacher,” he noted.

The First Federal president worked his way up through the ranks at People’s Bank and was a vice president when the bank was bought out by Lincoln Financial in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Feeling that the bank was losing its focus on customer service, Cross accepted an offer from Ned Compton, who was president of what was then Van Wert National Bank, and left People’s in January 1991.

Nine months later he moved again to the financial institution he has served the past two decades. Cross said local attorney Al Runser approached him about taking over for then-President/CEO Max Prichard, who was planning to retire in a few years.

“They would never come ask me if I hadn’t left People’s Bank, because they thought I was set there, since I had been there all those years,” he said.

It was a great move for Cross, who said it was like returning to People’s Bank the way it was back in the 1960s when he started working there. “It was back to the hometown bank,” he noted.

Cross said taking over for Prichard went pretty smoothly, but he said it was a learning experience when he formally took the reins in 1995.

“That took some getting used to,” he said of running a bank, rather than just working in one. “We had some great employees, some great directors to help me and it just kind of flowed,” he said.

Cross noted that First Federal has benefited the past few years from its commitment to customer service and the fact that decisions are made locally, and not by a corporate office somewhere else.

He explained that First Federal is a mutual savings and loan, meaning that depositors own in the company, similar to how a mutual insurance company works.

While First Federal continues to provide the type of customer service that was common when he started in the banking business 47 years ago, Cross said that’s about the only thing that hasn’t changed, adding that technology has definitely made things easier for bankers.

“When I first started, we did everything by hand,” Cross explained. “We balanced accounts by hand … on New Year’s Eve we would be there until 10 or 11 because we balanced every loan account, every deposit account by hand.”

“The change over those years is amazing,” he said, adding that computerization has been positive for the banking industry. “Now on New Year’s Eve, when the bank closes you leave and the computers take over.”

While computers have been a positive change, Cross said the added regulations instituted over the years haven’t.

“We used to approve loans on a handshake, but you can’t do that anymore,” he noted, adding that the increasing regulation was a factor in his decision to retire. “Things are changing; all these rules and regulations,” Cross added.

His decision to retire was helped by the fact that First Federal is doing well, prospering in the current economic conditions and adding new customers who like the way the bank does business.

“I have been really fortunate,” Cross said. “First Federal is in a good place right now.”

Although he’s now ready to “do some things I want to do,” Cross said he plans to stay on First Federal’s Board of Directors for a couple of years to ensure the transition from him to Brian Renner, First Federal’s chief financial officer, is as seamless as when he took over from Prichard.

Renner, who asked Cross to stay on the board for a while to ensure a smooth transition, has high praise for the man he will replace. “Mike’s been a great boss, and he’s been good for First Federal,” he said.

In addition to being good for First Federal, Cross has been good for the Van Wert community, with his involvement in a number of organizations over the years, including being a former YMCA board member for many years and his current involvement as a member of the Western Ohio Educational Foundation board at Wright State University’s Lake Campus, a trustee of The Van Wert County Foundation and the Wassenberg Art Center board.

He also plans to do a little traveling, but said he doesn’t want to be away from his children and grandchildren too long, and will spend more time with his elderly parents.

The First Federal president said he feels very good about his decision to retire.

“I think that you get to a point, it’s better to turn things over to someone with new ideas, fresh ideas,” Cross said.

First Federal is planning a reception to honor Cross’s years of service to the bank on Monday, August 31, from 9 a.m. until 4 :30 p.m.