<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4dhbqQ_0vlwYmln00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4dhbqQ_0vlwYmln00" width="855" height="449" >HAWARDEN—For the last 44 years, Lynn Eilts has had a career in banking but Friday, Sept. 27, will be the final time she clocks in. Eilts is retiring from Peoples Bank in Hawarden after working 16 years for the company.The bank hosted a retirement party in her honor Friday, Sept. 20.Eilts worked her first 13 years in banking at two different banks in Sioux Falls, SD, before deciding to make Hawarden her home. She started a job at Farmers State Bank and worked there for 15 years. Farmers State Bank was purchased by Peoples Bank in January 2008 where Eilts has worked since.“I would say what kept me in banking is just being able to work with and serve people,” Eilts said.She started as a receptionist and safe deposit box attendant and is retiring as a customer service representative. In preparing for retirement, Eilts said there are three things she believes good customer service representatives should be good at.“Not being afraid to talk to people, good at listening and making sure their customer’s needs are met,” Eilts said. “There are always some challenging, stressful situations and mistakes made but overall I feel I have done a good job.”Eilts said it’s not surprising that the biggest change in her four decades in banking has been the changes in technology. Eilts said those changes seemed to always be stressful and she admits sometimes she wasn’t so accepting of them. She quickly learned that once she and her colleagues had the proper training and felt comfortable with it, they realized the changes were advantageous for the bank and its customers.Eilts said one of the toughest parts of retirement will be not seeing the people she worked with daily and thoroughly enjoyed working for Peoples Bank. While they won’t see her as a co-worker, they will still get to see her as a customer.The feeling is mutual with her co-workers.Lead customer service representative Kara Vander Hamm said she will miss the care and compassion Eilts shows daily in her job duties.“She provides excellent customer service because she cares deeply for our customers,” Vander Hamm said. “I will also miss her sense of humor and the fun she brings to the bank.”“I will miss her customer service skills and professionalism,” Klocke said. “She has been a great representative of ‘Where Values Matter’ at Peoples Bank. Lynn will be greatly missed by our customers and bank staff.”Eilts will also miss the customers she’s served at Peoples Bank and throughout her 44 years. She’s gotten to know several of the customers throughout the years.“Thank you for letting me be of service to you throughout the years, I will miss you,” Eilts said. “But I will probably see you around town, and thank you for choosing Peoples Bank.”Eilts has some simple plans for retirement.Eilts and her husband of 41 years, John, two children — a daughter, Ashlyn, who lives in Minnesota, and a son, Blaine, who lives in Oklahoma. Blaine and his wife are expected their first child, which would be Eilts first grandchild. She plans to visit her new grandchild whenever she wants for as long as her son will let her when the baby arrives.She also plans to do more volunteer work.While she kept busy at Peoples Bank, Eilts has found plenty of time to volunteer. She’s delivered Meals on Wheels, was a member of Volunteers for America and a big sister with the Big Sister/Big Brother program in Sioux Falls, SD. In Hawarden, she has been a member of the Wee Care Daycare board, served on the Hawarden Area Arts Council, a member of the West Sioux Music Boosters and volunteers at the Hawarden Community Dinner.</div></body>

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Eilts to clock in one final time

HAWARDEN—For the last 44 years, Lynn Eilts has had a career in banking but Friday, Sept. 27, will be the final time she clocks in. Eilts is retiring from Peoples Bank in Hawarden after working 16 years for the company. The bank hosted a retirement party in her honor...