The Hansford County Reporter-Statesman

By Catherine Smith
First National Bank celebrated their 25th anniversary with a reception on Thursday, April 22, 2010 at The O’Loughlin Center. Over 300 people turned out for the fun, food, fellowship and entertainment.
First National Bank held a drawing for those who attended the event. They gave gift certificates to the following Spearman restaurants - Bunkhouse, Tongs, Simple Simon's, HeadQuarters, LaFamilia, Hungry Cowboy, Murmurs, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen and Gordon's Drug. The winners were: Araceli Caro, Susan Pearson, Linda Servantez, Don Maize, Telie Crum, Davy Gurley, Dwayne Comp, Fred Miller W.O. Hite and Armando Martinez.
First National Bank opened it’s doors on April 24, 1985 with eight employees - Bill Pittman, Tindle Ramon, Don Townsen, Felma Evans, Brenda O’Brien Winegarner, Christy Brock, Wilma Francis and Beverly Jenkins.
“I was approached around 1983 or ‘84 by several people who felt like Spearman could use another bank,” said Bill Pittman, President and CEO of First National Bank.
Pittman returned to Hansford County in 1972 after serving in the Army for twenty eight months, and went to work at First State Bank for Clay Gibner. He left First State Bank in 1975 and worked at Pittman Farms for a few years.
“I remember Ralph Blodgett saw me one day and asking me when I was going to get serious and get busy on the new bank,” continued Pittman. “I then started checking to see what needed to be done and contacted several people who helped with the paperwork and regulations.”
Tindle Ramon said he was approached by Pittman and asked if he knew anything about computers. At the time, Ramon was selling office equipment and managing an Apple computer store.
“I took an accounting class at Oklahoma Panhandle State University, and went to work,” commented Ramon.
The original directors for First National Bank included Max Baggerly, Ralph Blodgett, J.L. Brock, Lloyd Buzzard, Gene Cudd, Kent Guthrie, Ila Jo Hart, Jack Hart, Richard Holton, Britt Jarvis, Bob Pearson, Bill Pittman, Jimmy Shieldknight, Don Townsen and Joe T. Venneman.
Don Townsen was the first President of First National Bank, and remained in that position until he retired in December of 2008.
The Directors had been looking for someone to serve as President for some time when they found Townsen. He was working at Bank of Oklahoma in Guymon at the time.
The Office of Comptroller of the Currency, the regulator of National Banks, must approve national bank presidents. Once he agreed to take on the challenge of opening a brand new bank, Townsen was quickly approved by the OCC for the job of president.
First National Bank opened April 24, 1985 with $2 million in capital and 120 stockholders. At the end of the first business day they had taken in a little over three million in deposits. FNB now has thirty-five employees, over $12 million in capital and $111 million in deposits.
Felma Evans was the first official employee for First National Bank, and worked as cashier. She retired in the Fall of 1988. Others to serve as Cashier have been: Lynanne Maize, Fall of 1988 until December 1996, Kathy Boyd, January 1997 until April 2001 and Arbeta Nobles, April 2001 until November 2008.
L.F. and Susie Hand were the first people to open an account with First National Bank, and George Rook received the first loan. Billy Miller was the second depositor to FNB using the envelope containing 1¢ that he had given Kim Brock at the groundbreaking on May 22, 1984.
The face of First National Bank has changed over the years as well. In 1992, a 30’x50’ addition was added and in 1999, the new lobby and drive-up were added. Both of these additions were designed by Tindle Ramon and constructed by Charles Elliott.
“With the 1999 addition, the majority of the cost of the construction went to employees and businesses in Hansford County,” Ramon added. “For a community of our size this is difficult to accomplish given the cost of the materials that had to be purchased outside of Spearman. In addition we ran almost 100% of the materials and fixtures purchased through Charles’s company E&M Builders so we could pay the sales tax locally. As a result we paid almost 100% of the sales tax assessed on the project to the City of Spearman.
In October of 2002, First National Bank opened a branch in Dumas. In August of 2009, they opened the doors of their newly constructed building, also designed by Ramon. The Dumas branch has seven full-time employees, including manager Chris Johnson.
Johnson came to First National Bank Dumas with 8 years of banking experience and 13 years of corporate experience.
Other changes to FNB over the years include the addition of an ATM machine, ATM cards, debit cards and online banking. FNB was also an early adopter of laser-generated forms and was one of the first banks in the Texas Panhandle to have a centralized server and computer network.
Current Directors for First National Bank are Bill Pittman (Chairman of the Board), Mike Cudd, Steve Holton, Ginger Pittman, Charles Shieldknight and Joe T. Venneman. Bret Burgin, Brian Gillispie, Chris Johnson and Tindle Ramon serve as advisory directors.
The current officers for FNB are: Bill Pittman, President; Tindle Ramon, Sr. VP/CFO; Brian Gillispie, Sr. VP; Ginger Pittman, Sr. VP/Cashier; Chris Johnson, Vice President and Branch Manager, Bret Burgin, Vice President; Maria Sibley, AVP/Mortgage Officer, Andrew McMurry, AVP/Loan Officer, Elaine Cook, AVP/Asst. Controller; Tami Kunselman, AVP/Account Services; Liz Cazares, Compliance Officer; Paulette Laxson, Head Teller; and Teresa Maestas, Assistant Cashier.
FNB is proud of it’s ability to attract and retain quality employees. 25 year employees are Bill Pittman and Tindle Ramon. Employees with 20 or more years include Elaine Cook, Paulette Laxson and Brian Gillispie. Tami Kunselman has served 17 years, Maria Sibley has served 16 years, and Teresa Maestas 14 years. Shannon Barnes has been with the bank eleven years and ten year employees are Liz Cazares, Michelle McCubbin, Lesa Moffett and Ed Dear.
First National Bank would like to take this opportunity to recognize Edna Lee Grimmer and Betty Garcia for helping preserve the history of First National Bank. Photos, newspaper clippings and other memorabilia have been preserved in scrapbooks that will be available for viewing during the reception.
First National Bank prides itself on the friendliness of its employees and promises to continue to be the bank that “Always Puts You First.” Pittman states “FNB will always strive to treat their customers the way we would want to be treated.” While many banks in America are having difficult times, First National Bank remains strong and profitable thanks to its loyal customers and its outstanding employees.