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Bank manager retires from rewarding career

The key to happiness

OBSERVER Photos by Mary Heyl. Today, Dunkirk Key Bank Vice President and Branch Manager Pattie Halas is enjoying her last day serving at the branch that she has called home for the past 24 years.

This morning, Pattie Halas pulled into the Key Bank parking lot on the corner of Fourth Street and Washington Avenue for her last day as Dunkirk Key Bank vice president and branch manager. For the past 24 years of her 30-year career with Key Bank, Halas has been serving the community at the Dunkirk branch and building relationships with clients whom she now considers friends.

“It’s amazing working with clients and helping them through their financial wellness, reaching their goals; you learn a lot about them and their family, and you become their trusted advisor,” Halas reflected. “Retiring is bittersweet because I’ve formed such great relationships.”

While Halas’ expertise alone has been enough to earn the trust and respect of her clients, her journey has earned the respect of her peers and will undoubtedly inspire many others to pursue their dreams, at any age or stage in life.

Originally from Dunkirk, Halas earned her associate’s degree in education from JCC. When her children were students in the Dunkirk City School system, she became involved in the PTA and was eventually approached to become a teacher’s aide in the special education department at School 5. Halas worked in the school system for six years until her husband, Richard Halas, took a position in Ohio. There, Halas worked as a preschool teacher instructing a class of 24 three-year-olds.

After a year, her husband’s job brought the family to Hamburg, and in 1988 the family moved into a home not far from the Camp Road Key Bank location. “My husband wanted to cash a check, and I didn’t think he could without an account there,” Halas recalled. “He went in anyway and found out that he did need to open an account, so we went in. The banker was so sweet! She took her time and welcomed us to the area. I thought, ‘This would really be a nice place to work.'”

Although she had no banking or money-counting experience, Halas put in an application at that Key Bank location, as well as the Hamburg school system. “Whoever hires me first, that’s where I’ll go,” she told her husband. Sure enough, Halas was hired as a part-time teller at Key Bank, and she soon moved up to full-time teller and merchant teller.

“Key Bank opened so many doors for me,” Halas recalled. “I was a tellers supervisor and worked on the platform at the Derby branch. In between, I did a lot of different pilot programs, cross-training employees all over the Buffalo area.” After seven years, Halas’ husband took a senior management position in his company, and the family moved to Dunkirk. At that time, their children had graduated from high school, and Halas was ready for the next step in her career. She applied for the assistant branch manager position at the Dunkirk location, which then led to her current position as branch manager.

Over the course of 30 years, Halas has seen many changes in banking. In the late 1980s, she recalled, “Direct deposit wasn’t as popular then. When it was pay day, you had lines out the door. I remember those days. It was a lot of foot traffic. It was different.”

Matthew Pitts, Key Bank communications manager, pointed out, “What’s happening now here in the branch is less transactional and more conversational.”

Halas agreed. “When we sit down with a client, we’re no longer an order-taker. We take the time to see where they are in their journey to financial wellness.” Halas compared her conversations with clients to those between a doctor and patient. “You don’t tell your doctor about just one ache or pain. They want to know everything about your wellness — the big picture. We do, too, so that has most definitely changed.”

Jim Burns, area retail leader and vice president, branch administration, noted that customers’ needs have changed, too, and Halas has done a fine job of addressing them. “Clients need so much help,” he said. “Forty-eight percent of Americans close to retirement have no savings. Many children have no financial training. That’s where we spend a lot of our time now. If we can help the clients thrive, we all thrive.”

For Halas, it’s about introducing clients to small changes that can have a lasting impact on their lives. By simply helping them use the Hello Wallet spending tracker, Halas has helped many clients who “couldn’t afford to save money” find an extra $200 a month, just by tracking their spending and identifying a costly coffee shop habit that can be turned into the start of an emergency savings account.

“Last year, the Federal Reserve board report said four in 10 Americans can’t cover an unexpected $400 expense,” said Pitts. “But Pattie is helping them create these funds and look at the big picture. Something as simple as helping someone save $100 a month really helps them as they move along life’s journey. Your financial health is really tied to your entire well-being.”

True, the small changes have been an important part of Halas’ work. However, she has also been there for her clients who must make big changes, especially in times of crisis. “I’ve had clients where, unexpectedly, their spouse has died at a young age, and they would come in, really not knowing where to start,” Halas explained. “In many cases, there was one spouse who takes care of the finances and the other one handles other responsibilities. But I know everything about their banking and can help them get through this tough time.”

For Halas, building relationships with her clients is where she feels she’s had the most success. “For a lot of people, it comes down to, who do you have that conversation with? Even with a husband and wife. Sometimes, finances become more of an argument about who’s right and who’s wrong. Sometimes they need that outside person who can listen to their story, and then help them find a solution…Sometimes when they realize that something needs to change, they don’t know how to change it. That’s where we can help them.”

Although Halas will be missed, she leaves behind a talented team ready to help clients meet their goals. “This branch won’t miss a beat when she walks out that door,” Burns said. “Sometimes as an employee, you don’t want to feel that, but for a successful manager, that is exactly what you want to have when you leave. This is a great team; they know the clients, and her legacy will live on at this branch.”

Ellen Luczkowiak, branch manager of Westfield Key Bank, will be moving to the Dunkirk branch to take Halas’ place, and Burns is confident that she will be a good fit in the Dunkirk community, which she is very familiar with.

Over the past week, many have stopped in to say goodbye to Halas and thank her for her guidance and support over the years. “It’s been a wonderful career, but I am so looking forward to now having the opportunity to do the things that I really haven’t had the time to do before,” said Halas.

Among those things are traveling, visiting her five grandchildren and spending more time with her husband, who retired from his position as Dunkirk fiscal affairs officer two years ago. “I love being active in the community and with Rotary Club, so I’ll still be out and about. Most certainly, people will see me out there,” said Halas, a Dunkirk resident.

“Don’t get me wrong, she will be missed!” Burns emphasized. “Pattie is a leader among her peers. A lot of the Key Bank branches and managers have reached out to Pattie. A good part of her legacy is the staff here. They won’t miss a beat because of all the great work she’s done.”

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