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Show Citiien - Wednesday, March 12, 1986 - Page 12 After 66 By SHARON MORREY Edith Oiristensen has been in banking for 66 years . It took her 20 of those years to "ease into retirement'" and now that it's official, she says it's still too soon. "I've been in banking all my life," says the spry and wiry 83 year-old great-grandma, "i donl .know anything eke. Those first few weeks, I was never so frustrated in my life. "I'm finding it hard to break a 66-year 66-year habit!" Persona touches For as long as she can remember, Edith has been getting up and getting to work by eight in the morning. She's been involved in business and had big responsibilities. She's been involved in the lives of people in American Fork. She's watched both the town and the banks grow, change and join the computer age. She's come full circle, working in the Bank of American Fork in an office that stands just about in the same spot that her uncle's drug store once stood, where she was working as a girl. Edith Thornton Christensen has spent a lifetime in business. She's helped countless number of banking customers get loans and finance businesses. (They're calling her still asking for her advice. ) She's watched the banking hours change, drive-ups and walk-ups added. AM-PM tellers come in; the Bank of American Fork expand to the north, the west, around the corner. She helped people plan their futures, invest their money, shape their fortunes. But she never made plans for retirement. "I've never faced old age. I always had something I needed to do. I had people depending on me. I always said 1 kept young by associating with the people at the bank. I miss that the most," she Bank gives 5,000 to Utah Tech Deseret Bank of Pleasant Grove donated $5000 to Utah Technical College at ProvoOrem's Better Jobs for Women program to assist in providing schoalrships for women of Utah Valley. Bank President Kay L. Jacobs, who was instrumental in initiating the donation, stated that he and his colleagues are concerned about the over 14.000 displaced homemakers who reside in the valley. "We want you to know that we appreciate very much the contribution con-tribution of the college to our area," Jacobs said. "Repeatedly, we see the beneficial results of your training in the people we meet who have attended the college." U.T.C. President J. Marvin Higbee and Anita Bradford, Better Jobs for Women director, accepted the contribution on behalf of the program. Bradford pointed out that the program began by assisting about 100 women during one year. Now, she said, thousands of women are in the program receiving counseling, short-term courses and job training with placement. "Our goal is to place women, who are sole bread-winners, in better paying jobs that will sustain their families," Bradford said. "The average household that we deal with has five children to support and a minimum wage job will not meet their needs." Harley W. Jacobs, executive vice president of Deseret Bank, told Higbee and Bradford that the bank considers the $5000 check an "investment" "in-vestment" rather than a "donation." "Deseret Bank wants to assist these women in becoming self-sufficient self-sufficient and good providers for their families," he said. "Our investment in-vestment will not only assist. 50-60 women, but will also make Utah County a good place to live." There's No Place Like Home Shop Downtown American Fork E5 Chamber of Commerce r P"7 v years behind desk, it's hare confides. "Now I feel I'm on the downhill side of things. 1 don't want to be 100." "I should have retired about 20 years ago. But President (Orville) Gunther was called as the mission president for three years in Germany Ger-many and he asked me to stay on until he came back. Then my husband died and I was content to stay on. It was my salvation, my work, and just about the time I considered retiring again, the Gunthers were called to the Provo Temple Presidency. "Oh, It was just terrible to finally leave." Edith made the break because she's been asked to work two days a week at the Prow LDS Temple and she found it increasingly difficult to divide herself between the bank and the temple work. . She's assigned to the computer terminal at the temple, working on Family Files. She smiles about that because wherever she's been during her working life she's been working with machines and numbers. Even as a child of seven she was "into" business math. She helped out the family businesses; working in the drug store for an uncle, in the lumber yard for another. She worked after school and summers for another uncle in a canning factory. On her mission for the LDS Church, she was assigned to the office and then kept there an extra four months because they couldn't spare her. She did the bookkeeping, ran the office machinery and filed the financial and statistical reports. "My mind is a machine." she frankly admits, "It's mechanical. Figures come easy, figures stay in my mind. I inherited that from my father and I ahvavs knew it. I never wanted to be a school teacher or anything else. "I never applied for a job in my r1 T" v.t . "NSSc5$ri (fur rt i i in ti pirn J Lj a'1, ffLc5!- Cih Few f k: if any. relish tlx tlx night of giving tlx'ir IhoI earned dollars to I'nde Stun each xar. In fact, uv can 't think of a soul wlxi enjoys tlx' annual ritual if paying nixes Fortunately, tlx're's a less taxing alternaliiv. The First Security Tax Saver IRA A First Security Tax Saver liidiviclu.il Retirement Account amid prove to be your most profitable tax break. Every dollar you deposit in an IRA whether it's IKK) or the entire I2,(KX) can be deducted from your taxable income. Working individuals may deposit up to 1 2, (XX) a year in a Tax Saver IRA. married couples with both spouses employed may contribute $2,(XX) each, and couples with only one spouse working may deposit a total of 12,250 into two -accounts. IRAs are fast becoming a taxpayer's salvation. Depending upon your tax bracket and the amount you deposit, you could save up to 1600 this year. A sizeable sum going into your pocket rather than Uncle Sam's. Open your Tax Saver IRA at home Now at First Security, it's even more convenient to open or add to a Tax Saver IRA. Simply call our toll free number 1 -800-5 -1 133 or send in the attached coupon. In return, we'll send you a free Tax Saver IRA kit. It contains everything you need to open a new account or add to an existing one, including a simple, one-page i v V ; ' . '". r . ... V, .... k . . 1 r ' 5t k A r, i . i W rr. tif- i 1 I 1 - ' .-.! I t VKV i j - i Edith Christensen is finding after work tig in banking for life," she laughs, "After my father, died. I was seven then, both my' uncles offered employment. When I The government likes to think of your money as its own. This is for people with a different idea. why For it hard to take it easy in her the past 66 years. graduated from high school, I had a scholarship in business but I never used it. A cashier at one bank in agreement you can sign and return in the prepaid . cnvekpc with your check for as little as 1 100. Should you choose an automatic deposit, you can begin your Tax Saver IRA with as little as 110. I "Forty Commonly Overlooked Tax Deductions" Also included in the kit is the booklet "Forty Commonly Otvrlooked Tax Deductions", a handy guide to help you save even more when you prepare your taxes. You'll also receive a tax savings chart that shows how much you can save on your taxes this year, and a retirement earnings table that calculates what your Tax Saver IRA will be worth at retirement. j Free! Sylvia Porter's 1986 Income Tax Book When you open or add to a First Security Tax Saver IRA by mail, we'll also send you free, Sylvia Porter's 1986 Income Tax Book, It has line by line instructions for every major IRS form, and up-to-date answers to all your tax questions. It's a 15.95 value you get absolutely free for opening or ' adding to a First Security Tax Saver IRA by mail. 1-800-538-1133 So call our toll free number, or send In the coupon for your free Tax Saver IRA kit . After all, pay any more taxes man you nave tax savings, we rc ngnt where you want us to be. We're right wtierc you want I to take .v American Fork home town asked me if I was looking for work. I graduated Friday night and on Monday morning I started work D Yes! Send me a Tax Saver IRA kit absolutely free! Call 1-800-538-1133 or write: First Security Tax Saver IRA Department Kit Request P.O. Box 3169 Ogden, Utah 84409 Name Address City Sutc Daytime Phone , The Tax Saver IRA Kit includes a handy tax deduction guide "Forty Cnmmonly (hvrtonked Tax Deductions", your own tax savings chart, and a retirement earnings earn-ings table. Plus, everything you need to open or add to your First Security Tax Saver IRA including a simple, one-page application. iof us tobe it easy in the bank." She was 18 years old, responsible for running the new electric Burroughs Posting Machine. "Men hired girls to run the machines, " she tells. "I really think that's why they had us there. Our machinery consisted con-sisted of a typewriter and that posting machines, that was it. The surf consisted of just a handful of people. There were no job classifications such as cashier, loan officer, etc. Edith says she learned todoeverytn" She stayed at that bank until 1934. In 1957 she married Louis Christensen, a beekeeper and nurseryman with an "instant family" for Edith; five girls and a boy. She kept banking and juggled the responsibilities of church work, family life with her career without problems. "I have the best family . We've just had so much good. I have 24 grandchildren grand-children now, all but three married, and 90 great grandchildren!" She's taught Sunday School, Relief Society, been to Israel and Zurich. Since Louis died (after 21 years of marriage) Edith has taken on the yardwork, trimming and weeding and watering. She's has good health, seldom missing a day of work because of illness and never taking a sick leave. Edith advanced to vice-president and bank director, retains a seat as Senior Director on the board of the Bank of American Fork even now. vc, She works easily with people and ' figures, says she carries around numbers in her head. She liked the work immensely. , .. In the beginning, she made $75 a 1 month. For that she says she had to , work twice as hard and do three times as much as a man. But she . didn't mind that r "I always figured I had the best woman's job in town," she says. "I. miss it." I ' . ' 'rv . Zip. 7 Member FDIC |