Sep 13, 2020 4 min read

For Judi Goodwin Tanner, her association with First Federal of Greene County has spanned her entire lifetime.

“My grandfather opened a savings account for me when I was just a few weeks old,” Tanner recalls. “First Federal was my first bank and is still my bank.”

That fateful first visit sparked a journey that took Tanner from a newborn customer of First Federal in the 1960s all the way to the Association’s President and CEO in 2012. And it’s a journey that recently culminated in Tanner’s retirement this past spring, after nearly 38 years of service to her childhood bank.

After graduating with an accounting degree from West Virginia University in 1982, Tanner applied for a position at First Federal’s Waynesburg main office. She was hired by and worked directly for John E. Mariner as his secretary in the mortgage department. Tanner also became the Education Loan Coordinator and began picking up other work throughout the Association, from bookkeeping to internal auditing.

“My advice is to always keep all doors open, pick up everything you can, keep asking questions and always learn new things,” Tanner says. “I learned something new every day at First Federal, whether it was about the business or the people, from our customers to fellow employees. I’d like to thank the many people I’ve worked with over the years for sharing their friendship and knowledge with me.”

Her willingness to learn a little bit of everything started her on a career path that saw her appointed a corporate officer in January 1991, serving as Treasurer at a time when the Association’s leadership changed from President/CEO James L. Brewer to Scott S. O’Neil.

During the next two decades, Tanner continued in various capacities with the Association, working in accounting, serving as the Chief Financial Officer and being named a Vice President. In the meantime, First Federal’s leadership changed twice more. After O’Neil retired in 2008, Mariner was named President/CEO and, four years later, was himself set to retire. He handed over the reins to Tanner – that young WVU graduate he had personally hired 30 years prior – and she officially became President/ CEO and a member of the Board of Directors in 2012.

Her tenure as President/CEO saw continued growth and expansion for First Federal – the opening of a new office in Mt. Morris, the introduction of a mobile app and the construction of an addition to the main office in Waynesburg that paid tribute to the town holiday of Rain Day.

As the years passed, Tanner’s own retirement loomed on the horizon, and a succession plan was developed to pass the torch to Charles W. Trump, Jr.

Tanner set her official retirement date for April 3, 2020, not knowing that her final few weeks in office would be marred by the coronavirus pandemic. Still, she remained firm with the changes that had been in the works for several years.

“The plan had been in place for so long, we saw no reason to change it,” Tanner said. “We knew First Federal would be in good hands.”

Although her full-time employment with First Federal is now over, Tanner continues to serve on the 7-member Board of Directors, alongside Trump and Mariner, the chairman. (O’Neil remains as a director emeritus; Brewer passed away in 2019.)

One retirement plan that COVID-19 did change, however, was Tanner’s goal to travel more with her husband, Terry, a retired West Greene High School teacher.

“We had several trips we talked about, but thankfully we never booked anything,” said Tanner, adding Banff, Canada, is on the travel destination wishlist.

With dreams of Canada on the back burner for now, Tanner and her husband have instead turned their focus closer to home. The two are looking forward to taking more motorcycle rides, visiting their extended family and appreciating life on her family farm in Center Township.

“We want to spend more time with family and friends,” Tanner said of their shared retirement. “We have been taking more walks on the farm, and just enjoying more sunrises and sunsets.”

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