Long-serving Liberty State Bank Vice President and Branch Manager Ronnie Goodwin announced his retirement Friday with a going-away reception at the Smithville branch office.
Customers, friends and family came by to say their well-wishes to the 20-year veteran and shared punch and a personalized cake featuring a favorite hobby of Goodwin’s, a 1930 Ford hot rod.
“We’ll miss everyone here,” Goodwin said. “When you spend more waking moments with folks you work with than you do at the house and some of these folks have been here since I have, even good change is tough. Change is change and I’m a little apprehensive and it will be different but I’m sure it will be good.”
Goodwin’s last day will be Aug. 31, but he’s leaving the bank on solid footing with Rhonda Caplinger named as his replacement.
“It’s well-deserved and I think it’s time for him to enjoy his life a little bit easier and not so much stress,” Caplinger said. “I know that if I was in his shoes I probably would have another plan too and he has a lot of hobbies. I think he’ll do well.”
Caplinger has been with the bank for 22 years, so customers will have a familiar face to greet them.
“It’s a small town and I know everybody,” she said. “I hope it’s an easy transition; we’ll see it’s a challenge.”
Goodwin thinks Caplinger will do a fine job taking over for him.
“Rhonda is taking the spot and bringing some other people to work with her so she’ll be running the show,” Goodwin said. “Rhonda’s been here since a little before I came and she has worked in every aspect of banking and she is well-rounded, well-schooled and very good with all kinds of customers. A lot of the paperwork I would generate or do, she and Denise would actually see the folks and walk them thorough things so they know her so she won’t be anybody new.”
While some folks don’t always know what they’re going to do when they retire. Goodwin isn’t one of them.
“I read a lot and we’ve got the cars ... the hot rods,” he said. “We go to the car shows. We go to the West Coast in the winter and have an Oregon trip after that. I have a list of chores I’m told that should last several months and just want to relax. We’ve got two grandsons and we’re still figuring out how all that works and spoiling them all we can. We’ll be out and around and busy.”
As for his favorite hobby, Goodwin and his wife Deborah have big plans.
Goodwin has four hot rods, three 1932 Fords and one 1930 Ford and they’re all the old school look.
“We have a builder in Shelbyville, Michael Young, and the blue one on the cake was one of a dozen cars picked from all around the world to go compete for what’s called America’s Most Beautiful Roadster and we finished second in 2014,” said Goodwin.
“We have been on some of those cross-country antique car trips and we’re probably going to do some more of them. We go to the West Coast each year after Christmas and just got back from the nationals in Louisville which was the first week in August. We get to see a lot of couples, a lot of friends that we’ve known, most of them older than we are that we met playing with the cars so we are probably do some more of that. My wife is understanding and she enjoys the people we see and meet and some of them we only get to see once or twice a year but we pick up where we left off and just keep on going.
“We’re very blessed, very fortunate and very lucky to have been where I’ve been and as my grandmother used to say I just try to grab on and hold onto every good day and be thankful and I’m very fortunate,” Goodwin stated.