When Mike LaVigne retired at Grand Marais State Bank several people moved up in position. Mark Youngdahl became bank president, Susan Roy (L) became vice president/chief financial officer and Donna Paine became assistant vice president.
While recently retired Grand Marais State Bank president Mike LaVigne is rumored to be spending plenty of time gleefully chasing golf balls around Arizona golf courses, several people have been promoted to fill openings at the century-old bank he left at the end of January.
Filling Mike’s large shoes is Mark Youngdahl, who was named bank president, becoming only the fourth president in the long history of the institution.
Originally from Texas, Mark has lived in Minnesota since graduating from college. He worked five years for a financial firm in the Twin Cities before moving to Grand Marais, where he met and married Brooke (Williams), Youngdahl. Together they have three children, Ruben 10, Grete 8, and Barret 5. Mark has been with the Grand Marais State Bank for 11 years and served as vice president before this promotion.
Susan Roy has been at the bank for 28 years. She started as a cashier and has worked her way up the ladder. Hailing from Grand Forks, North Dakota, Roy said she started at the bank at age 21 as a cashier. “This is the first real job I ever had,” Roy said with a smile.
Roy has been named vice president, chief financial officer, filling the slot opened by Youngdahl. She and her husband Jim have two children, Madison (Maddy) age 19, and Cameron, age 16.
Donna (Gestel) Paine grew up in Grand Marais. She has worked at the bank for 26 years, and recently completed her college degree in December. Donna has been named assistant vice president, taking over for Roy. Donna has two children, Adriana 22, and Ashley 20.
Upon Mike’s retirement the staff released a statement. Here is part of it.
“Mike was always the guy in the bank long before anyone else got here, sometimes hours before. He was the guy who shoveled snow with a sore back, the guy who got the mail on Saturdays, the guy who always had a ‘good morning’ and a ‘have a good night’ to every person he employed no matter what the day had been like. He always told us to take Monday off when it was a federal holiday, thanks for that Mike! He was the guy who came to all our weddings and was there to give our newborn babies a kiss when he met them for the first time, he was there when they graduated from high school and left for college. He was the one who made sure there were flowers at a funeral and more often than not he was there to mourn with us. Mike didn’t miss much except for the occasional time at 3:30 p.m. on a busy summer day when he would ask one of us who hadn’t left their desk, ‘have you been here all day?’ Really, Mike? “
For Youngdahl, LaVigne certainly left a legacy to model himself after. With one month since LaVigne departed, Youngdahl was asked how the transition has been going.
“Everything has gone well, pretty smooth,” he said. “That’s a testament to the staff that has been here for a long time. People can jump in and help here and there as needed because they have done a variety of the jobs here. We do miss seeing Mike, but we wish him well in retirement.”
As for the health of the bank, Youngdahl commented, “We went through a decent period of growth. The business is going well. As the local economy goes, so goes the bank. The last couple of years the economy has been strong. When local businesses do well, we do well.”
The Grand Marais State Bank has a branch in Tofte. The Von Holton family, who also owns a bank in central Minnesota and Wyoming, owns the bank in Minnesota and a bank in Wyoming. Both Megan and Chris Von Holton (who are twins) have worked at Grand Marais State Bank and both still work in their families’ banking business.
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