More than co-workers

Marlene Wilde and Val Fick fostered a 40-year working relationship, which spilled over to their personal lives

By Kate Westby | The Daily Journal

Published Tuesday, July 1, 2008

In the face of elevated job turnover rates, the working relationship of two Security State Bank employees could be considered a modern-day phenomena.

As Marlene Wilde retires after 45 years at Security State Bank in Fergus Falls, she and Val Fick look back on a shared 40 years of service at the bank with fond memories.

“Val and I enjoy doing so many of the same things, so yes, we’re co-workers and friends,” Wilde said, reminiscing about the bank’s community appreciation projects and lunch dates with Fick. “I’ve had lots of friendships over the years, which is what makes working here so enjoyable.”

While Fick said she appreciates Wilde’s efficiency and work ethic, she describes their long-time working bond as more than just office talk.

“We share a lot of the same values and had a lot of fun together over the years socially besides working together,” said Fick, whose husband is related to Wilde. “We know a lot of the same people and share a love for gardening and cooking, trading lots of recipes and plants over the years.”

As vice president of operations, Wilde was first exposed to banking careers at a Vocational Day in high school when she visited Security State Bank.

Following graduation, she began working for the formerly known Fergus Falls National Bank then transferred to Security State Bank shortly thereafter.

“I enjoyed working, it became a part of my life,” Wilde said. “This has become my home, and coworkers like Val are my family.”

Fick started at Security State Bank after a year at Alexandria Technical College and only planned to stay three or four years. But 40 years later, the Ashby native knows she’s right where she needs to be.

Even though the two don’t work together—Fick, a vice president primarily in real estate lending, and Wilde, a vice president of operations—Wilde appreciates Fick’s organization.

“Val started five years after I did, and my first impression was that she was such a nice person and very capable,” Wilde said. “I didn’t think I would work this many years so I sure didn’t imagine that 40 years later, Val and I would still together at the bank!”

While Security State Bank boasts several employees with 25 to 30 years of service, Wilde and Fick are the only ones who shared 40 years together. The pair has seen the changing face of Security State Bank in Fergus Falls through remodeling, redecorating, additions and computer conversions, not to mention what Fick describes as tremendous changes within the banking industry.

But while they describe the business world as more hectic with no time to relax with fellow coworkers, the two recall favorite memories of past years at the bank, such as joint bank Christmas caroling, the annual Goose Gallup races and ice sculpting on Lake Alice for what used to be Winterfest.

Wilde also recalled days when Security State Bank covered the parking meters downtown with bakery bags stamped with the bank’s name for the entire month of December, paying the city the revenue for the month as a Christmas gift to the community. Memories like these color the bittersweet palette of moving on to new experiences in Wilde’s life.

“The hardest thing about retiring is that it’s like I’m leaving home,” Wilde said. Fick agrees.

“And there are days you spend as much time with coworkers as you do family and share in the joys and anxieties of their lives,” Fick said. “I don’t think there are a lot of other people who can say they worked together for 40 years, and it’s been very rewarding to develop such personal relationships not only with customers but with my fellow employees also.”

With half of the dynamic duo turning it in, is retirement around the corner for Fick, too? She laughed.

“I don’t know and I’m not even going to think about it for another three years.”