A Tribute to William
Mayberry
By Don Hooper
Bill retired
in 1968, but remained active and had an office at Orchard Lake - Thirteen
Mile Road which he visited a couple of times a week, but then on a lesser
and lesser manner over the next several years. Sometime in 1975 or 1975 I
was working in the Branch Department and visited our offices to work with
management and junior management on call programs. I stopped into the Woodward
Hunter Blvd office one afternoon and standing in a long uniline of customers
was Bill Mayberry.
Nobody in the office recognized or knew who he was. I walked to the line,
introduced myself and asked if I could assist him in his transaction. I walked
him to the management area of the bank, introduced him to them, and had one
of the junior management staff take his transaction behind the cages and take
care of it for him. He was such a gentleman that he would not use his former
position to impose on the staff. I don't know how long that had been going
on in other offices.
He lived in Howell, Mi, but came to attend various meetings and functions
all over SE Michigan. I don't believe there was a single person more responsible
for the growth and development of MNB than Bill Mayberry. He became President
in 1949, and led the merger with Industrial National, and subsequently the
formation of Manufacturers National Corporation and thelisting on the stock
exchanges. He saw most of the growth of the branch department until his retirement.