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When Tom Mullen first went to work in a bank, ball- point pens were a no-no, there wasn't a computer in sight, and all employees had to have the bank's permission to get mar- ried. That was in 1951, and to- day (July 31) after a career that oo hk nearly four decades, Mr. Mullen will walk away from his desk at the Royal in Port Perryinto retirement. Yalking to the Star last week, he said his decision to re- tire was made several months ago "with no regrets" but added that the last day at work is go- ing to be tough emotionally. On Friday, staff at the Roy- al put out coffee and donuts, and encouraged customers to Tom Mullen is retiring today (July 31) from the Royal Bank, after a career that stop by and wish Mr. Mullen a happy retirement. And the previous evening, the staff threw a retirement party for him, attended by many friends and colleagues in the bank. He has worked his entire career with the Royal, the last 11 years in Port Perry as branch manager, and most recently as spanned 39 years. In photo above Mr. Mullen holds a caricature by artist Paul Beare, pre- sented to him by banking colleagues at a retirement dinner last week. (see story) PORT, PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, July, 31,1990 -- 13 Tom Mullen retires after 39 years at Royal manager for farm services for all of Durham Region. Banks have a reputation for re-locating staff, and in his 39 years, he had more than a dozen transfers, eight in the first eight alone. But he said he leaves witha huge store of fond memories. - "I really appreciate all the friends and associates here in Port Perry. It's a beautiful com- munity, I recommend it to any- one," he said. He and his wife Ann plan to spend their summers at Pigeon Lake, and will return to Edmon- ton for the winters. "But we'll be back in Port Perry any chance we get to see old friends," he said. His career started in his home town of Melville, Sask. He didn't really plan a ca- reer in banking. As a teen-ager, he used to cut the lawn of the branch manager in Melville, and one day the manager said "come by the office for an inter- view and fill out an applica- tion." "Two weeks later, I got a call saying I had the job," he re- calls, at an annual salary of $1250. - Banking, of course, has changed completely in those 39 years. Technologically, the chang- es have been enormous, but cus- tomer requirements have also changed greatly as well. e recalls the early days of his career, working as a teller "inside a wire cage with the re- volverin the desk drawer." No, he never used the revol- ver and in fact, was never robbed during the career. There were no computers, even mechanical calculators were few and far between, and the bank insisted that records be kept with a straight pen. And a favourite prank played on junior tellers was to send them off to get a "scale to balance the ledger," which turned out to be a couple of bricks in a brief case. He's taking a month's holi- days before his retirement starts officially September 1. He said he plans to play some golf in the summer, curl in the winter, and hell do some "relief work" for the Royal, fill- ingin when staff take holidays. And once he's settled in Ed- monton, may get into some fi- nancial consulting for farm and business. IF YOUR AD WAS HERE Over20,000 people could have read it this week. That's a lot of potential customers for your business. For advertising Made Easy call the PORT PERRY STAR - 985-7383 RAM SATELLITE SYSTEMS since 1980 : 84 RUSSEL ST.W. LINDSAY, ONT. 705-878-0833 FINANCING AVAILABLE O.A.C. 20" COLOUR Included with Purchase of any complete Satellite System DAYS ONLY SATURDAY, AUGUST 4th SUNDAY, AUGUST 5th 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM T.V. (top name brands) RRR SRA a YAS ero FERN VN RS Ry Pr wa