Bank exec enjoys job after 36 years

by Denise Massie
Pharos-Tribune staff writer

October 13, 2008 11:47 am

— After 36 years of working in the same industry, Sheila Wildermuth is still learning something new everyday.
“My favorite part is all the knowledge I’ve learned here,” said Wildermuth, a senior vice president at Logansport Savings Bank. “You learn every day.”
Wildermuth said she started her banking career as a teller after graduating from high school. She said she had been working as a waitress and the move to banking was a step up.
She added that she was also drawn to the field by her love for working with numbers.
When she was hired, she said, there were seven other employees at the bank and she was one of the youngest.
“Anything new, I wanted to do,” she recalled. “It was a great opportunity for me to learn.”
Her eagerness to learn helped out as she moved into management.
She now works from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and her day is filled with a variety of tasks. No two days are the same, she said.
As the bank’s information security officer, she is in charge of dealing with everything on the Internet.
She also has the job of writing all the bank’s policies and procedures. An example would be the bank’s shredding procedure. She said that there are certain items that must be shredded in a certain way and bagged in a certain way. This is all to protect the customer’s identity.
She is also in charge of advertising and marketing for the bank.
“I got that job because I am the creative one,” she said.
On the operations side, she is responsible for processing checks and overseeing the manager over the tellers.
Every morning, Wildermuth said, she makes a plan for what she wants to accomplish during the day.
“I come in and think, ‘This is what I’m going to do,’” she said. “I don’t always get it all done.”
Since she started the job of senior vice president, her office has moved to the back of the bank.
“Now that I’m back here, I miss the customers,” she said.
While she doesn’t get to see the familiar faces she once saw, she said, she is still able to help a lot of customers over the phone or by e-mail.
As with every job, Wildermuth said, she experiences challenges every once in a while. She said it becomes challenging to understand new things.
Her favorite part of her job over the years has been working with the people. She describe her co-workers as family.
“I love this job,” she said. “I really do. I enjoy the people I work with.”
While she said it sounds like she does a lot of work, she gives credit to all the workers at the bank for making everything run smoothly. She also seeks advice from her mentor, Dave Wihebrink, the bank’s chief executive officer.
Overall, Wildermuth is pleased with her choice of careers.
“It went by really fast,” she said about her time as a banker. “I never had any regrets.”
Denise Massie can be reached at (574) 732-5151 or via e-mail at denise.massie@pharostribune.com

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