FBB:
Charles Isch announces retirement after 46 years at First Bank of Berne
March 4, 2010
Berne, IN-
After 46 years of service, Charles E. Isch, President/CEO of
First Bank of Berne has announced that he will be retiring from the bank
in May of this year.
Born and raised in Adams County, Charles graduated from Berne French High School in 1961 then attended International Business College and worked for a few months in Fort Wayne.
In 1964, Brice Bauserman, then President of First Bank of Berne, called Charles and asked if he would come back home and work for the local bank. Charles agreed and started his career with First Bank of Berne in 1964 as a teller and quickly moved to the loan department where he became a loan officer.
Charles became a member of the banks Board of Directors in 1984. When Fred Liechty retired as the President of the bank in 1993, Charles was appointed the 9th President of First Bank of Berne, a term that has lasted 17 years.
After serving First Bank of Berne in many capacities, Charles had this to say, "I have enjoyed working here every day since 1964 and always looked forward to coming to work. I will remain on the banks board of directors."
"The change of management of the bank will be very seamless, as I have been preparing for this transition for several years. Kent Liechty will become the tenth president of our bank. We have a very strong group of leaders in each of our departments. It has been an honor to serve our customers, shareholders and our communities," added Isch.
First Bank of Berne was rated the number one performing bank in Indiana for all four quarters of 2009. The bank is in a very strong position for the future. First Bank of Berne has had two record high profit years in '08 and '09, in spite of the bad recession that our country is in. Assets also ended the year at an all time high.
First Bank of Berne, the #1 bank in the state of Indiana has assets of over $415 million and operates a total of eight offices in Berne, Decatur, Bluffton, Portland, IN and Van Wert, OH.