John Maxfield has retired as senior vice president of Illinois National Bank on April 30, capping a 40-year career in banking that began and ended at INB.
Maxfield, a native of Mason City, graduated from Depauw University in 1977 and spent a year playing in a rock band before deciding he needed to find work.
I started with the old INB in December 1979, he said. I answered an ad in the paper for a teller position. They hired me, and I ended up making it a career. There was no plan to do that, I just needed a job. But it turned out I liked banking.
In 1989, Illinois National Bank was sold to First of America Bank, and later to National City, which then became PNC. When a group of local investors formed the second incarnation of Illinois National Bank in 1999, Maxfield returned.
I was among friends; a lot of people who worked for the old INB were over here. Ive been here ever since, he explained. Along the way, Maxfield has held a variety of positions, handling everything from new accounts to supervising tellers and branches to eventually transitioning into commercial lending, his current role.
As Ive been calling my customers over the last month to let them know I was retiring, I realized Ive helped a lot of people over the years get started in business or expand their business, and a lot of them have been thanking me. Its been humbling to learn that Ive made a difference in peoples lives, Maxfield said. Its been a great career. INB has been a great group of people, and Ive made a lot of friends.