Longtime employee is looking forward to new chapter of life

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

After many years of service at the Farmers and Merchants State Bank in New York Mills, longtime staff member, Marlene Teberg, has filled out her last deposit slip, counted the last role of quarters, and greeted her last customer from her side of the desk.

Teberg retired yesterday, Tuesday, Sept. 30, after 46 years of loyal and dedicated service at the bank. She had worked full-time as a customer service representative since August 6, 1979, when she started as a teller.

“I was working at Eagles Cafe for Bozo Erickson,” chuckled Teberg. “They called me and asked if I would like a job. I’ve worked with many different aspects of the bank, starting with the teller work, then I went into customer service and a lot of the operations. I’ve done a little bit in most of the departments with the exception of loans.”

During her time on staff, many aspects of the banking industry have changed and with it, the specifics of her job. One major change over the years has been the rise in rules and regulations within banking that need to be followed. Teberg has seen shifts in everything from interest rates to digital banking.

“The equipment,” said Teberg. “There really wasn’t much for computers. Most of our interest calculating for loan payments, it was all done by hand. We couldn’t pull up a customer’s name and their account number and see how much interest was due. There was a lot more manual calculating.”

One of Teberg’s favorite memories was working with longtime member of staff, Russ Jacobson, who helped her find her groove while working at the bank in the early years.

“I really enjoyed the many years I worked here with Russ Jacobson,” she said. “He was kind of my mentor over the years.”

One thing Teberg will miss the most is seeing and interacting with customers on a daily basis, especially those she has built relationships with over the years.

“Working with a lot of different people has always been fun,” she said. “And hopefully helping them in various ways when they’ve had concerns with their banking issues.”

In retirement, Teberg is looking forward to working on those everyday things at home that fall by the wayside in a worker’s life. From sprucing up her home to spending more time with her husband, Lyle, she is looking forward to foregoing her alarm clock. With some camping trips scheduled for the future, Teberg is looking forward to sitting back and enjoying life.