After 26 Years, Jack Ryerse ‘Takes a Break’ From Island Bank
By Ryan Schlehuber

Several family members, friends, and co-workers enjoyed an appreciation party for Jack Ryerse at French Outpost on Mackinac Island Wednesday, September 14. Mr. Ryerse has decided to step down as Mackinac Island bank manager after 26 years with the First National Bank of St. Ignace. Pictured (from left) are son Bob and Anne Ryerse of Westminster, South Carolina, daughter Jacki Laver of St. Ignace, Mr. Ryerse, son-in-law Jack Laver of St. Ignace, and Barb and son Paul Ryerse of St. Ignace.

There are many things constant in Jack Ryerse’s life: he swims every day, he has never eaten pizza, an apple or orange, or swallowed a drop of alcohol, and each day of the summer he could be found in his office on Mackinac Island, managing the branch office of the First National Bank of St. Ignace.

A familiar image to many Island residents and workers, Jack Ryerse at his office desk at the Mackinac Island branch of the First National Bank of St. Ignace. (Photograph courtesy of Jack Ryerse)

Now 86 years old, Mr. Ryerse has decided to retire after 26 years with the bank. His last day of work was January 8, the last day the ferry crossed Lake Huron to the Island for the winter. Last winter he was sick, but he is still not comfortable with the word “retirement.”

“I’m sure that if I hadn’t gotten sick, I would have never stopped until at least now, because it was very interesting and we’ve been successful and we’re still successful,” he said politely. “The problem now is that I don’t have the stamina anymore that you need to do the job.”

Mr. Ryerse had earned a full list of accomplishments even before taking the job on the Island at the age of 60. Before his job at the bank, he ran a beverage distribution business for nearly 30 years, officiated football games for 42 years, and was a community volunteer to service organizations like the Kiwanis Club, holding perfect attendance up until he took the Island job.

Mr. Ryerse decided to sell his wholesale beer and wine distribution business, Ryerse Sales Company, in 1979, to Bob Griffin and Dick Templeton. It is now called Griffin Beverages and run by Mr. Griffin.

Discontent with being idle, Mr. Ryerse accepted a job as manager of First National Bank’s branch on the Island only weeks later.

“Right after I started, it was interesting, and I’ve enjoyed it very much since,” he said.

Jim Brown, vice-president of First National Bank, offered Mr. Ryerse the job because he had known him for years. They are both originally from St. Ignace, both are graduates of LaSalle High School (Mr. Ryerse in the Class of 1936, Mr. Brown in the Class of 1940), and both of them served in the Navy during World War II.

“When war broke out in 1941, I went into the Merchant Marines,” Mr. Ryerse said. “I transferred to the Naval Reserves in 1943 as a navigational officer. The Navy was short on navigational officers. I got called up almost immediately.”

Mr. Ryerse served on the USS Lamar , an APA 47 attack transport ship. While docked in Seattle, he noticed a familiar ship on the docket of boats in the harbor, the DD 786 destroyer Richard B. Anderson . On that particular boat was Jim Brown. Both of them were glad to see a familiar face thousands of miles away from home, and both enjoyed hanging out and watching hockey games while in port.

“As luck would have it,” said Mr. Ryerse, “we were both in San Francisco at the same time right after the war.”

“It was V-E [Victory in Europe] night and everybody was cheering in the streets in San Francisco,” Mr. Brown remembers. “I ran into my brother-in-law, Bob Bentgen, who was a chief on a Pacific freighter, and Jack. It was lucky to have all three of us from St. Ignace running into each other on the streets of San Francisco that night.”

Mr. Ryerse’s ship went back to sea and headed to Japan to begin bringing troops back to the United States. He got to see firsthand the devastation caused by the atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima.

“It was unbelievable,” he said. “There was absolutely nothing left, not even a brick.”

When Mr. Ryerse returned from the war in 1946, he and his brother, the late Charles Ryerse, started the distribution business.

When Mr. Ryerse accepted the Island job in 1979, the branch was housed next to the Orpheum Theater on Main Street. The next year, a new building was built on Market Street and Mr. Ryerse and his staff moved in.

On the Island, Mr. Ryerse enjoyed making new friends and even liked the ferry ride to and from St. Ignace.

“What I enjoyed most was the fact that we helped a lot of other businesses over there,” he said. “It was the fact we could take care of them and that made me feel good when they were successful, because that meant we were successful.”

Mr. Ryerse did not have a lot of banking experience in the beginning, Mr. Brown remembers, but he hired him for his friendly personality and the ties to the Island he had formed through his beverage distribution company.

“I felt he was an intelligent individual who had lots of friends and could make friends easily,” said Mr. Brown. “He was a good public relations man. That’s what made him successful, his personality and intelligence.”

Brenda Bunker, who has worked with Mr. Ryerse since he took over the branch, and who has been the interim manager on the Island since Mr. Ryerse’s departure, said what he does best is to think about others.

“You couldn’t have a better boss,” she said. “He is so nice to work with. He is a great boss. He never forgot our birthdays; he’d always send you a box of candy or something. He’d always treat us to breakfast at Jessie’s Chuckwagon on Fridays, which we called ‘Fat Fridays,’” she chuckled.

“He is well liked over here,” she said. “He always helped the summer workers when they needed it.”

Mr. Ryerse humbly credits his co-workers with the success he has had over the last 26 years.

“That’s what makes the difference, they are all well-liked,” he said. “We’ve always had high-class help, the best help you can get.”

His infectious charm and friendly personality is what made him so popular to the Island people, said Mr. Brown.

Friends, family, and co-workers came to his “appreciation party” (not a retirement party, said Ms. Bunker) at French Outpost Wednesday, September 14.

“It was great,” said Mr. Ryerse about the turn-out. “There were so many people, I couldn’t believe it.”

Family who attended Mr. Ryerse’s appreciation party included his daughter and son-in-law, Jackie and Jack Laver of St. Ignace, and his two sons with their wives, Bob and Anne Ryerse of Westminster, South Carolina, and Paul and Barb Ryerse of St. Ignace.

Mr. Ryerse also received a tribute from the State of Michigan honoring his long-standing dedication to his work and to Mackinac Island. The certificate was signed by Governor Jennifer Granholm, 37th District Senator Jason Allen (R-Traverse City) and 107th State Representative Gary McDowell (D-Rudyard).