Atkins announces retirement following 62 years

After 62 years of banking, Max Atkins, of Bancorp South, officially announced his retirement early last month.

Mr. Atkins started his career in banking while living in his hometown of Florence in the year 1965, as a member of Union State Bank, that was, at the time managed and operated by Bernice Beck.

At the time that Beck offered Atkins the position, Atkins was working as a bulldozer operator making just barely enough to get by.

An offer of $160 a month for filing checks in a cool vault, was an offer that Atkins simply could not turn down.

Though he only worked 160 hours a month ($1 per hour), Atkins was satisfied with the new direction his life had taken him.

A few short years later, after gaining some more experience in banking, Atkins began working as a cashier for Farmers State Bank of Mexia in 1959.

In 1963, he got an even larger opportunity as the Vice President of the Marlin National Bank, where he would continue to work for 22 years.

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