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RBC PENSIONERS’ NETWORK

BRITISH COLUMBIA CELL

Email RBCPENSIONERSNETWORK@SHAW.CA VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2 – APRIL, 2011

EDITORIAL The editorial staff has been delighted with the wonderful stories that have been written by Pensioners and published in the Newsletter over the past five years. It is also clear that our readers find the stories of others remind them of similar events experienced in their working lives. These epistles have illustrated a period of history in Banking that does not now exist. The long hours; the endless transfers; the extended learning processes and the delights in working with interesting staff and customers in the diverse economy of British Columbia. For some, the adventures of working in Head Office, or in other Provinces, contributed to their career achievements for a long and satisfying working life. Those readers who have retired recently told us they enjoy these stories and marvel at the broad range of banking experiences and hardships endured by those who retired years ago. We have really only touched the surface in recording and publishing these stories. We encourage other Pensioners to sit down and take the time to document their working life, or detail some interesting events that occurred during the time you were actively engaged in Banking. We are anxious to publish your stories, but for your own sake, it is really important that you do this even if you do not wish to have your work published. Write your autobiography now, not only for the satisfaction you will find in doing it, but to leave a lasting historic record for your family and grandchildren who, after you’ve gone, will at some point want to know about the early days of your working life. For most of us, Banking was the only job we ever had. Remember, it is always later than you think. Do it now!!

SUNDRY INFORMATION Don Gilchrist was the first to identify the mystery branch as North Clearbrook. Ellen Brodie identified the mystery signature as that of Terry McDermid first, but there were many others who got this one.

Jimmy Walker is often seen at the West Vancouver Pensioners’ Luncheon.

Tell us who uses this signature. ****************************************************

We are sad to report the demise of Cliff Downing, who many will remember as the father of RBC Systems. Cliff died on January 20, 2011 at the age of 97 years, in Toronto. He retired from the Royal Bank as a Deputy General Manager in 1978.

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This is your mystery branch, circa 1957.

********************************************* 33 YEARS IS A LONG TIME In 1978 when Charlie Mayne and Hugh Burnett were attached to the Okanagan, Kootenays Regional Office in Vernon, B.C., a competition was launched to see who could pick the most winners of the numerous United States college football bowl games that were played over the Christmas holidays. Charlie put up a trophy and they started picking their teams from a list of around 20 bowl games. (The number of bowl games has since increased to 35).

This competition has gone on for the last 33 years, even though Charlie and Hugh have long since retired from the Bank and have lived in such places as New Westminster, North Vancouver,

Lions Bay, Qualicum Beach and West Vancouver. They get together each December when the participants in the various bowl games are published. Sometimes they do this by telephone, or often over lunch, to make their picks. They even travelled together in 1995 and 1996 to Arizona to watch two of the games. When the games have all been played, a winner for that year is declared. The overall score after all these years is 17-16 in favour of Hugh.

WHITE ROCK PENSIONERS’ LUNCHEON On Thursday January 20

th last, Charlie Merrick and Don Steele

travelled to White Rock to attend the monthly luncheon, held that month at the Belle Restaurant in Surrey. This group meets at a different venue each month, so if you wish to attend contact Richard Fuller at refuller@hotmail.com or telephone (604 ) 541-1870 Richard presided and conducted the usual draw for some very nice bottles of wine. We enjoyed the fellowship of the group and were able to re-connect with a number of Pensioners we had not seen for awhile. While the numbers were down the day of our visit, because of the threat of snow, there were about a dozen or so who enjoyed the excellent meal and had a good time visiting together. This group often has up to forty persons in attendance. We were also able to take some photographs and a couple of the retirees promised to do their stories for the NEWSLETTER. ***************************************************

MY YEARS WITH THE ROYAL By Liz Dickson Way back in September 1961 when I was still Liz Mains, I was hired by the branch Accountant, Cecil Kennagh to work at RBC Granville and Hastings. The Assistant Accountant, Charlie Merrick, had a desk in front of Mr Kennagh. Charlie was probably about 12 years old then with rosy cheeks and curly hair. I was one of the 4 Current Account Tellers they had at the branch. Ellen Brodie, Jocelyn Trott and a Scottish Gal (I believe her name was Margaret)who had an amazing way of holding the bills and counting them, were my fellow Caged Tellers. Mr Kennagh terrified me and he insisted you add everything up on your Teller’s blotter in your head. I was not allowed to use the old hand crank adding machine that sat on a stand in front of his desk. Math was my worst subject in school. You may ask why I joined the bank. My grandmother had been a client there for many years and she thought it would be a wonderful place to work. She arranged the appointment for me with Mr. Kennagh... Soon I was moved over to the other side of the branch and became a Savings Dept. Teller. Mr. John Moore was my boss and he was not as formidable. The Branch Mgr. was Mr. Arthur Ross and we saw him Christmas and New Years when he went around and shook everyone’s hand and wished them well. Some of the staff did not seem to know who he was. In April of 1962 I transferred to Main Branch Nanaimo where I worked with George Siborne, Walter Fries and Ivor Turner. We had a great time at that branch; always a pub to go to after work. Nanaimo had more pubs per capita than any other town. The women who worked at the branch decided

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they would like to wear a uniform. A business client who was a clothier gave us a deal and we all wore grey skirts, white blouses and blue blazers. We had our pictures taken and a write-up in the Vancouver Sun. I then transferred to Vancouver, Hornby and Nelson in Aug 1963 and worked with George Hack, Gordon Jenks, Dean Morrisette, Jim Keough and Tony May, are just a few I remember. I then married Gary Dickson and left the bank in Dec 1964 to raise a family. I returned to the Bank in April 1976 when Ron May, who worked at the North Vancouver, Capilano Mall branch, recruited me from Metropolitan Trust Company which was right next door to the Bank. I again was a Savings Teller for a month and then promoted to a Senior Teller in charge of the branch cash. Merv Kennedy and Herb Mitchell were Mgrs. at this branch. One of the Tellers, who I was supervising, ended up paying out to a young man the passbook balance in his passbook, which was a couple of thousand dollars, instead of the actual balance which was very little. Herb Mitchell chased the kid right out into the parking lot...That was exciting. We got the money back, after we called his parents. In July 1978 I was transferred to RBC Main Branch, North Vancouver and became the Assistant Branch Administration Officer with Gerry Harte who was the BAO. Bill Baird was our Manager and we always seemed to have a party on Friday nights after work... In May 1979 I moved to North Vancouver, Upper Lonsdale Branch and was DDA Supervisor. (I remember DDA stood for Demand Deposit Accounting). I was at this branch to Oct 1987 and was promoted to several different banking depts. I was a Personal Banking Supervisor, Special Deposit Supervisor, Administration Clerk, and Independent Business Services Officer. I loved working at this branch: there was a terrific staff and we always had a lot of fun. Jack Scott, Jeff Guthrie, Bob Margetson, Merv Kennedy, Jeff Wheatley, Gina Skippen, Dave Lawson, George Balzer, Frank Jarman, Lorne Sine, and Jim Wright, to name a few. I was nominated for a Service Excellence award and was given the award by John Cleghorn and Alan Taylor at the Annual Meeting for staff in Vancouver on Jan 24, 1990. I decided to have a change and in March 1990 went on the Loans Officer training program and Bob Robertson at RBC, West Vancouver, Park Royal branch took me under his wing to train. I was there 2 months when Jean Littledale from Personnel phoned and asked me if I would be the Business Services Supervisor at Vancouver, Main and Hastings. This was a big decision as I was on the Loans Training Program and I was not sure about the daily

commute to Main and Hastings especially, when I lived within walking distance from The North Shore Branches. She made me an offer I could not refuse and I took the job. I made the transfer in June 1990.

In March 1992 I was made Mgr. Business Services at Vancouver, Main & Hastings. I had I believe 7 or 8 in my dept and we serviced the Van. East area Account Mgrs’ customers. I also looked after Peter Steele's Corporate Account clients who banked at Main and Hastings. The job was challenging and very interesting. We had many clients from the Chinese community and my staff would have to translate for me. Dave Christie, Larry Wise, Vern Tompkins, Dragana Sanderson, Debbie Birsa, Joan Nicholson and Dan Richardson were only a few of the terrific staff at this branch. The branch was held up on a regular basis but John Gregg got pretty good at knowing who had come in to rob us. It was a most interesting branch to work in. The Account Mgrs. all had business cards giving their

hours and they were on 24 hrs. a day. Often Hong Kong clients would come by the busload directly from the airport to our branch to open their accounts.

In April, 1994 I transferred back to North Shore Business

Banking at RBC 15th and Lonsdale as Mgr, Business Services. I

worked the last few years here with Brian Williams. Brian and I

also got in on the planning of our new branch at 1789 Lonsdale

and that was a lot of fun.

I have been so fortunate to have had a career with the bank

especially since math was my worst subject, but my skills were

customer service. I loved working with the clients and staff. I am

glad my grandmother spoke to Cecil Kennaugh all those years

ago as it was a great career path for me. I retired in May 1997,

along with my husband Gary who retired from teaching.

John Richter seen at the RBC Seniors’ Golf Tournament .

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MY BRITISH COLUMBIA CAREER

By Barry Collins

During my job interview back in 1960 I had to write two tests.

One math and the other spelling. I flunked the math test but the

District Personnel Manager at the time, Norm Bradshaw,

doctored my score and hired me. My

career was off to a dubious start.

My first assignment was Junior Clerk

at Lower Lonsdale Branch in North

Vancouver. Don Morris was the

Manager, a real gentleman, and Alec

Armitage, the Accountant. Now you

have to understand that before I joined

the bank, I was a pretty clean living

young guy totally involved for years in

kicking a soccer ball around. Well, that

changed after my first day on the job

when Alec introduced me to the

Olympic Hotel across the street from

the branch. Alec must have been a good

customer because the table was full

when we walked in, no one asked to see

my ID, and I’m still 3 years away from legal drinking age. I

thought I might like this job even though I had no clue what the

bank drafts were, that I was delivering up and down Lonsdale

Ave.

Next up was Teller at Squamish Branch under pipe smoking

Manager, Larry Urquhart and Accountant John Stevenson. Two

great guys and I often think back how people like Larry and

John helped me during my early days in the bank. The mine at

Britannia Beach was still operating in those days and we ran a

Sub-Branch two days a month to handle the payroll. We’d carry

the cash for the payroll in John’s car, along with Bank issued

revolvers. On our way back to Squamish we (not John, but it

might have been Al Bowbyes) were waving the guns around like

PAY DAY IN PENTICTON (1940) – NOTE THE SALARIES, THEY ARE NOT PER MONTH.

Jerks. A citizen complained to the RCMP who spoke to Larry,

who spoke to us. Dodged another career bullet.

Soon after I was off to Courtenay as

Discount Clerk, under cigar

smoking Eric Alexander and Accountant

Hugh Burnett, one of the real good guys I

met in the bank. Hugh was a terrific athlete

and although we don’t keep in touch, I still

consider him a friend and I hope he does

too.

Then I received my first northern posting

to Quesnel as about 28th

Assistant

Accountant under Manager Jim Stephen.

Discount Clerk Norma Festerling tried to

keep the young city guys on the straight

and narrow but some wild man named

Lome Anderson and I barely missed doing

some jail time. Career bullet number three

ducked.

Vancouver, Hastings & Homer as 4th

Assistant Accountant was

another huge promotion. Ernie Tierney was Manager. Can’t

remember the name of the Accountant but he was a real beauty.

This job was followed by an Assistant Accountant posting at

Vancouver, Commercial & Graveley under Ernie Watchorn and

then the really big one as Accountant at Renfrew & 1st in

Vancouver where Don Fullerton was Manager.

Then I’m a Junior again, this time on Inspection. I worked with

many fine bankers: Ed Bradish, Peter Briscoe, Don Steele, Wally

Mackay and of course the other “Juniors”: Jack Brewer, Jim

Allison, Jim Simpson, Al Tarras, Bob Strong and a host of other

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characters. To survive District Inspection in those days you had

to have great stamina, a healthy constitution, a thick skin and

preferably be single.

I was then back up north (despite having requested a transfer to

the Okanagan for years). I opened the branch in Mackenzie,

B.C., the only one man branch in Canada, where I was Janitor,

Teller, Discount Clerk and Manager. Bi-monthly trips to Prince

George were necessary to pick up a cash parcel and then

transport about $30,000 in my beat up Volkswagen 120 miles

through the hinterland back to Mackenzie. What a sitting duck

… I should have kept the revolver I had in Squamish. When we

first opened, the vault hadn’t arrived (the Bank was rushing to

open before one of our competitors). At the end of each banking

day, for the first month, I’d take the cash box home and put it

under my bed at night. Real frontier banking.

Next move all the way south to Prince George (I must have

pissed somebody off earlier in my career) as Assistant Manager,

Administration, first under George Siborne and then Ed Goode.

I think I was lousy at this job because I recall applying for jobs

outside the Bank at this stage in my career (or was I getting

cabin fever from the long winters).

But relief eventually came and I got as close to the Okanagan as

I ever would, as Credit Officer in Kamloops Main, under

Manager Dave Pollock and Peter Marshak who mentored me

(both were good teachers). Again I look back at people who

helped me during my career.

I was then appointed Assistant Manager at Burnaby, Main

under Ed Bradish, followed by a move to Vancouver, Broadway

& Granville as Senior Assistant Manager, first under Al Perley

where I learned all about martini lunches and then farm boy

Lorne Sine who had a great sense of humour and more farm

jokes than anyone I know. There I met Bill Tucker, who was

Assistant Manager Administration and we developed a great

friendship, along with train man Claude Prutton, as well as

many other fine bankers.

Next move was to the Vancouver Island Regional Office as

Manager, Lending – first under my nemesis Roger Hemeon and

then Al Grant. Jack Brewer was Manager, Business

Development with Bob Irlam, Dick Roy, Al Reidel. Dave

Williams was Consumer Development Officer. Great cast of

characters, many of whom went on to have terrific careers in the

Bank. One of the final career bullets I dodged was here, but I

don’t want to incriminate other people (Brewer/Williams) so I

can’t go into details.

So now it seemed the die was cast and I was destined to stay in

commercial banking. My next job was as Assistant Manager,

Commercial Lending in the Royal Centre Tower which I had

avoided like the plaque earlier in my career but now I had to be

one of “them.” I tried to avoid being an asshole, remembering

my days in the field and to be as supportive as I could.

I guess I was only partially successful because my next job was

back in the field working under Len Kozar in New Westminster

as Sr. Assistant Manager. I learned a lot from Len; he had an

easy way about him, and was respected by his staff and clients. A

real class act.

I then opened the first Corporate Banking Centre in B.C., in

Langley. Roger Hemeon was again my boss. I still remember

Roger’s words: “Collins, this new Corporate Centre is cutting

edge stuff, get it right.” I am sure Roger thought, oh shit, not

Collins again. But our relationship survived (somehow), the

Centre grew and I look back fondly at the friendships I

developed over those years including guys like Joe Frank, Glen

Carter, Mike Canniff and many others.

My final six years in the bank were spent as Manager of the New

Westminster Regional Business Banking Centre where I

succeeded Len Kozer. This seemed like a quantum leap for me

but I was surrounded by a host of talented bankers and they

made my job a whole lot easier. I’ve often been accused of being

a little too demanding of people (Roger was a good teacher) but

we grew as a team, the Centre prospered and those final years

were as good as any I had in the bank. I can thank people like

Kelly McKnight, Rob Tooms, Marg Hubbard, Maurice Lees,

Clay Hibbert, Fran Strike, Dave Bibbs, Tom Laing, Dick Foster,

Bryan Bedford and so many others.

A special mention too, to Walt Penner, Dave Pollock and Phil

Rafuse who as my bosses at various times in my career showed a

confidence in me that allowed me to achieve what level of success

I had. They probably have no idea the role they played, but I’m

very grateful for the support they gave me.

I’m not very good at keeping in touch with old friends and

colleagues, but 12 years after retirement (1998) I often think

about the people I’ve worked with and places I’ve been. They

will forever form a permanent part of my memories.

Today, life is pretty good: Margaret and I have raised our

family, we live in White Rock and I spend my time golfing,

managing a small condo building and enjoying our children and

grandchildren.

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Jan Hayes – A hard working Director of the RBC Lower Mainland Pensioners’ Assn.