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On New Year’s Eve 2020, Troy Bank & Trust said farewell, but not goodbye, to two of its most senior employees. Between the two of them, Judy Chancey and Lydia Richardson have 107 years of service to TB&T.

Also, retiring from TB&T, are Lillian Johnson and Diane Aman.

Johnson, a universal banker, has been with TB&T for 19 years and Aman, a vice president and loan officer, has been working with TB&T for 36 years. Although officially retired, Aman will stay on with the bank in a part-time capacity.

“While we celebrate this life milestone for our retirees, we know that we are losing almost 170 years of banking experience and dedication to TROY Bank & Trust,” said Jeff Kervin, president & CEO of TB&T. “We can never replace this year’s group of retirees, but we appreciate all they have meant to and helped create for our bank over the decades.”

And, the retirees expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to work for Troy Bank & Trust and in service to the bank’s customers.

When Judy Chancey walked out of Troy Bank & Trust on New Year’s Eve 2020, she knew she would have tears in her eyes.

“But, I’ve already cried a cup of tears,” Chancey said as she looked toward her retirement from the bank with which she has been affiliated for 58 years.

“I started with TB&T when it was located were Landmark Realty is now,” Chancey said. “The bank only had 18 employees from the president down to the janitor.”

Bank President Corley Chapman needed someone so he hired Chancey at the hefty sum of $175 a month which was a big $50 a month raise from her previous job at the probate office.

“I started at the Troy Bank and Trust as a utility clerk,” Chancey said. “I answered the phone and filed and everything was done manually, with a pencil and ledger paper. We had to post all the checks that came through manually. That was no easy task.”

Chancey was a dedicated employee and moved up to the rank of vice president and director of the bank’s Advantage 55 program.

“Advantage 55 is a program for our customers who are age 55 and over and meet other banking requirements,” Chancey said. “I have enjoyed being 55 and over and the many trips that I have guided as the Advantage 55 director. We have traveled to every state in the United States and to foreign countries including Greece and Germany.”

Chancey’s travels included four trips to Alaska which she said is her favorite state. Her most memorable trip was to the passion play in Oberammergau, Germany.

“Seeing the passion play took all day” she said. “It was my 60th birthday and it was so special. The play was all in German but we had a book that also had the English. But if you knew the Bible, you knew enough to go along with it. The passion play is only done every 10 years and I’ll always treasure seeing it.”

Chancey said she loved working with “elderly’ people.

“And, the older I got, the more I cared for them,” she said, laughing. “But, bring the Advantage 55 director, was demanding and it was hard being way from home,” she said. “It was not all ice cream.”

Chancey said Troy Bank & Trust has been good to her.

“I’ve dedicated my life to the bank and has been a wonderful life,” she said. “I grew up country girl from Logton who loved country music. I came from a big family of seven children. Life was hard but we didn’t know it. I grew up wanting to be a teacher but Troy Bank & Trust gave me opportunities never dreamed of and I will also be grateful.”

When COVID-19 intruded in Chancey’s life, Jeff Kervin, bank president, she her home for her personal safety.  But she bargained back, with the promise to stay in her private place except to visit the restroom.

On Friday, her plan was to slip quietly out of the bank and go home to enjoy being with her family that includes, four children, eight grandchildren and 11 and counting great-grandchildren.

“They all live in the Pine Level area so I’ll be going up that way a lot,” Chancey said. “But I’m not going to sit around home in my pajamas. I love being outdoors and I’ll probably drop by the bank every now and then.”

Lydia Richardson joined Troy Bank & Trust in August 1966 so she was working on 55 years when she made the, not so easy, decision to retire.

“Troy Bank and Trust has been very good to me,” Richardson said. “The decision to retire was not easy but, then, it was really simple, because you keep working and the first thing you know, the years are gone.”

Richardson said she has always been fascinated by numbers. Growing up in Goshen, she knew that, whatever career path she took would probably be numbered.

“I went to college for two years but that was not for me,” Richardson said. “I didn’t want to finish.”

A job became available at Troy Bank & Trust. Richardson applied and got the job.

“I started in bookkeeping and went from there to the proofing department,” she said.

Richardson was soon promoted to head bookkeeper. She got married and divorced and made a decision to go back and finish college.

“Troy Bank and Trust was very good to me,” she said.

The bank administration supported Richardson in her desire to further her education.

“They even helped me pay for my college,” she said. “I finished college and worked toward my certification for auditor and then passed the certification.”

Richardson became Troy Bank & Trust’s auditor and, at her time of retirement, is a senior vice-president and internal auditor.

For Richardson, Troy Bank & Trust has been the ideal job.

“Bookkeeping is what I love and working at the bank has been perfect for me,” she said. “Numbers make sense to me. They are either right and they work or they are wrong and they don’t.

“I enjoy meeting people and but, for me, numbers have been my cup of tea. I appreciate the opportunities that Troy Bank and Trust has given me to do what I enjoy.”

In all the “going on 55 years,” Richardson said, only once, has she even given thought to working anywhere other than TB&T.

“One time, I thought about moving to Birmingham but that thought didn’t last long,” she said. “I knew I was where I was supposed to be.”

Although, Richardson’s official retirement will begin with the New Year, there are some loose ends that must be tied before she completely closes her door at the bank.

When that day comes, she plans to be even more involved in her church and go often to the beach, sit on the sand and read books that don’t tax her brain.

“I enjoy autobiographies,” she said. “Especially, the ones that tell the stories of those who go through some really hard times and come out on the other side.”

Traveling is also on the docket with one of the first destinations at The Ark in Kentucky.

And, there will be time to bask in the memories of the place where Richardson has spent much of her life.

“When I needed help, TB&T was there for me, from the boss on down,” she said. “Not just one or two, everybody. It was all about working together and I thank them all for all those wonderful years of friendship.