Banking became a tradition in a Freedom family when Wesley Nixon, President and CEO of Freedom State Bank, took his first job there at age 17.

Nixon turned 90-years-old on Friday, Feb. 17 and has worked at the bank for over 70 years. He began working at the bank sweeping floors and operating the posting machine by hand in 1937.

In recognition of his 73 years with the bank, the Oklahoma Bankers Association (OBA) surprised Nixon on his birthday with a plaque and a plant.  Jim Davis, OBA member liaison, commended Nixon of his dedication and time spent working at the bank.

Nixon was born just south of Freedom and went to high school in the town. His sister Joann was married to Jim Powers, the owner of the bank at the time.

While he began working at the bank in high school, he left the bank for 2 and a half years to attend college in Alva at Northwestern and then left to serve as an airplane mechanic during WWII. He spent a year serving in the U.S. and 2 years serving in China, Burma and India.

The native returned to his job at the bank after serving in the war.

"I kinda liked it around here, I decided it was a pretty good place to raise a family," he said.

That is exactly what Nixon did too, raising children who followed in his footsteps.

Now 3 out of his 4 children also work at banks in Northwest Oklahoma. His oldest daughter, Kayle Costello, works at Central National Bank in Enid and his son Mark Nixon and daughter Sue Reed work at the Freedom bank. His daughter Julie Russell is the only "non-banker" of the family.  However, she's still in the numbers game, working as a math teacher at the high school in Freedom.

Nixon's wife Maxine also worked at the bank until she retired at the age of 80. She was unable to be there when OBA surprised him due to health issues.



REMEMBERING BURGLARIES AT THE BANK

Following the OBA's presentation of the plaque, Nixon shared some memories from his 7-plus decades at the bank.

Some of the most exciting moments were 3 burglaries at the bank, but Nixon said only one burglar was successful in stealing money.

"They ended up catching him from the traveler's checks he stole," Nixon said.

He then recalled one of the unsuccessful burglaries where the person used a cutting torch to cut through the vault door and was surprised with tear gas that was mounted on the door as a booby trap for burglars.

"It took a long time before we got that tear gas out of here," he said, noting that shop owners two doors away could even smell the gas.

The original vault door is still located in the bank.

Nixon said they are fortunate they have never had a daytime robbery, although one day they came pretty close.

"We used to close during the noon hour and I was going with the Ag teacher to check on a project for the kids and I came down and had to run into the bank to get something. I saw a car sitting out in there so I said 'go by there and let me see the tag number'. There was no tag number and the guy took off. Two hours later he robbed the bank in Forgan," Nixon said.



BANKING THROUGH THE DECADES

Through all of the changes of technology and changes of bank regulations, Nixon and other bankers kept the bank going.

"We kept it going through the 30s and the best of the 80s, drought in the 40s -- there's been a lot of banks closed and very few banks are still family owned," he said. "But it's pretty hard to keep going with all the regulations that we have now."

Nixon said he wished there weren't as many regulations for smaller banks such as his.

"We spend a lot of our time keeping up with regulations," he said adding they spend more time focusing on regulations than they do on the bank.

However, the bank has been a staple in the community for a long time. Nixon said they've been involved in a lot of community activities and sponsored a lot of community events.

"We've always considered it a 'home bank for home people', that used to be our motto," he said.

Even though many small town banks in the area have fallen to the "wayside" Nixon said he doesn't think they will be going anywhere anytime soon.

"I think Freedom Bank will be around for a long time yet," he said.