George Butkus, 16-year manager of the Cathlamet branch of the Bank of the Pacific, is preparing to retire. Photo by Sunny Manary. George Butkus is retiring this month after 15 years as manager of the Bank of the Pacific.

Butkus started in the industry in 1961 as a "gofer," where, he said, he learned all the intricacies of banking.

In the beginning, Butkus worked for National Bank of Commerce (NBC) which eventually became Rainier Bank. While there, he ran errands and did the “clearing’s run” for the bank. Items or checks drawn from certain institutions would be run to those banks, and in turn, Butkus would pick those up and bring them back to NBC.

From NBC in Longview, he went to the NBC branch in Elma. Eventually, Butkus ended up at the NBC head office in Seattle, and finally in 1993, settled at the Bank of the Pacific in Cathlamet.

From gofer, to lending to bank manager Butkus has seen a lot of the state.

“I’m ready to retire, oh yeah!” he said.

However, not keeping busy won’t be an issue. Just having purchased a house in his home town of Centralia, Butkus said he plans to spend a lot of time working on changing his new yard. He said he never leaves anything status quo.

“I always change it,” he laughed.

In retirement, Butkus also plans to play golf and travel, which will be limited to summer, he said, because of the custody of a granddaughter.

Butkus said he still enjoys the banking job but wants to spend more time with his family.

“There is nothing more important than family,” he said.

Penny Paulsen, who has worked with the bank for the past 24 years, will be taking Butkus’ place as bank manger.

A reception honoring Butkus will be held in the bank lobby April 30 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The public is welcome to come and say goodbye.