Peggy Mitchell has been around the local banking scene for a long time, but Feb. 29 she will leave her office as branch manager of the Compass Bank when she retires after 43 years.

Peggy began her banking career as a bookkeeper at then State National Bank on the Athens square, in the building now occupied by Crowning Touch hair salon. From there, the bank became Central Bank and moved down to a new building on Green at South Marion streets.

Peggy, in the meantime, moved up to proof operator, teller, new accounts clerk, “Relationship Banking” officer, and then to bank manager. In the midst of her climb up the banking ladder, Peggy married Larry Mitchell and had two daughters, Tabitha Neely and Alison Johnson, and the grandmother of Brittney and Colby Neely.

The bank was also going through some changes during that time, becoming Compass. In 1997, then Bank President Bill Ming moved Peggy out to the new drive-through bank on U.S. 72, near the new Wal-Mart.

Bank robbers

It wasn’t long after Peggy transferred before that bank was the target of a daring mid-day robbery.

“That bank robbery, it was sad, but everybody stayed calm and did what they had been told to do,” said Peggy. “We had a good cry afterwards and then a laugh because no one was hurt.”

Two of the robbers died soon after the robbery — one when their getaway van went out of control while being pursued at high speeds down back roads near Tanner and crashed into a tree, and one died in prison. The third is still serving his sentence in prison.

“Once in a while we will get a check for restitution from him,” said Peggy. “The police told us at the time that they could have been dangerous, because they had been drinking all night the night before and they had already robbed a bank the previous October.”

Peggy remembered that she was talking on the phone that day when the robbers strolled through the door. It was unusual for customers to enter the bank, because all of the traffic pulled up to the drive-through window.

“They came through the door and said to Sandra (Davis), ‘Get the money.’ It just felt like hot water was running through my veins. Sandra had time to set the alarm when one turned away. I was still on the phone. One said, ‘Get the money, Get the money.’ The teller was in back so Sandra had to unlock the door for them and then they made Sandra and me stand there while they scooped up the money.

What is funny is there were several large bills on the counter, but I guess they didn’t see them and just took what was in the drawer.”

Peggy said that when the robbers fled, she wrote down the tag number of their car, but what she didn’t know was that it was a stolen car that they drove to a van they had parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot, which was to become the getaway vehicle. But the robbers had the misfortune of drawing the attention of another sharp-eyed witness who proved to be their downfall.