A Life’s Account
Becky Barton closes out a 45-year career in banking
Words by Alyson Robbins | Image by Ryan McGill
A smile spreads to the corners of her cordial eyes as she greets the white-haired man through the glass pane at the bank counter. After she takes his check and begins counting currency, neighborly talk ensues on a variety of topics—grandkids, the weather, health—while the patron waits for his cash. This exchange between customers and Becky Barton, teller at Synovus Bank in downtown Jasper, has been a daily occurrence for the last 45 years.
“I always wanted to count money, and I never had a lot to count,” Becky laughs.
Her passion for finance and business emerged as a student at Cordova High School, where she counted recess money and deposited the earnings at Cordova Citizens Bank.
“We had this thing where you poured the change in and you shook it, and…it divided the coins up for us,” Becky says. “And I thought, ‘Now this is what I like doing. Counting this money.’”
These early transactions led her to pursue a career in banking. Becky was a student at Walker State Technical College in Sumiton studying business office education when she heard about a job opening at First National Bank. The late Mr. John Oliver interviewed her on Monday, July 11, 1977, promising to call her within a few days. Becky was home for three hours when Mr. Oliver phoned and said, “Well, little lady, you’ve got yourself a job if you want it.” Startled, Becky said, “I don’t know if I want the job!” With encouragement from her teachers, she accepted on Wednesday and reported to work on Friday.
Becky learned quickly, beginning her career in bookkeeping at the Dora branch. It was there she learned teller operation at the drive-thru window.
Banking afforded Becky opportunities to work in various roles: bookkeeping, proof, and teller operation. “Back then we would take every check that you wrote on your account, and we would file it in these drawers. And now you don’t even get a check back,” Becky explains.
Despite the changes, Becky remained unwavering in her dependability, loyalty, and fidelity, serving customers from the 20th Street drive-thru, Dora, Cordova, and Charter branches before settling at the main office on 18th Street.
Becky smiles fondly as she reminisces on serving the public—stories of customers sleeping in the drive-thru after a third shift waiting for the bank to open, or cunningly detaining a wanted criminal until the police arrived on scene, or the time she warmed up a drive-thru customer’s lunch in the microwave while counting her cash.
Hundred-dollar bills and a hot meal—“Now that’s service!” she says.
Her most noteworthy customer, George Lindsey, stopped by the Charter Branch one day to cash a check on his way to Bernard’s Store for Men.
Reflecting on her career, Becky says, “As fate would have it, I’ve been counting money for 45 years.”
She may be closing this chapter, but her life’s account is still open. She plans to continue serving others on a part-time basis, exhibiting the same smile and enthusiasm she has for decades. 78