1952

At that distant time when we were all embarking on careers, a half-dozen classmates chose banking. And having become bankers, they stayed bankers. Now, retired and able to look back, what do they have to say about their chosen profession? We picked up the phone and called a few.

Bob Herr and Emmy live in Rumson on the New Jersey shore. He started out in New York with the Chase Manhattan Bank. He spent 24 years in corporate lending, specializing in the overseas shipping business. Bob then went with a large French bank and ended up by working the other side of the table as the borrowing manager for a big shipping company.

So what happened to banking during his career? "Well, a lot," he says. When he started, banks were heavily regulated in what they could do and where they could do it. No more. "The banks are in all kinds of businesses, but all kinds of businesses have gone into banking. It's become messy."

Bob thinks that most of the personal relationships that built confidence are gone from today's banking and he thinks that's too bad. "I'm glad to have been in yesterday's banking—but I'm glad to be out of today's banking."

Jon Walton and Sis live in Grosse Point Farms, Michigan. He spent 37 years with the National Bank of Detroit, at the time one of the 10 largest in the nation. But after three mergers the bank is now part of JP Morgan Chase.

Jon became a senior officer and says, "I really liked my work. The bank had a sound conservative strategy—and it worked. I traveled a lot and developed a lot of business friends all over the world."

Of course, the nature of banking has changed. "Pretty impersonal now," he says. But Jon looks back on his banking years fondly.

We caught up with Drew Waitley just as he and Mary Ann were leaving their Glenview Illinois, home for some winter time in Florida. Most of Drews career was spent at the Continental Illinois Bank, where he became seniorvice president in charge of construction lending worldwide. He traveled a lot and "made a lot of good friends and a lot of good loans."

Drew took an early retirement but was quickly tapped to open a construction finance department for another Chicago bank. He didn't really retire until seven years ago.

Looking back, Drew says that he feels very comfortable about his banking career. "Bankers of my time were influential people in business and their communities. They helped businesses grow and were a positive force in promoting commercial integrity. That hasn't all gone away—but it's clearly diminished."

So there you have it. Classmates who worked in a profession that has changed a lot. But haven't they all?

If you haven't already, there's still time to reserve for our 55 th reunion on June 11-14. Call Frank Logan at (603) 643-3846.

189 Mountainside Road, Mendham, NJ 07945; dexotex@aol.com

REUNIONJune 11-142007