“Live your life the way you want to be remembered, like for your kindness, compassion, hard work, and dedication,” advised Lisa Dearman. “Encourage people. It may not be anybody you know, but they may be going through something so just give some encouragement. It could help build their confidence.”
Lisa Dearman is well-known for her kindness and the encouragement she provides all those around her.
Growing up, she enjoyed playing outside with her siblings.
“I had three brothers and one sister. We woke up in the mornings, and if it was summertime, you were outside until dark and then could come back inside,” remembered Lisa. “I was just a good ole tomboy girl. I played with my brothers and two cousins that were pretty close in age, so my playmates were the boys. We played in the dirt and rode bikes. We just did all kinds of crazy stuff.”
Playing wasn’t the only thing she did. She developed a strong work ethic from an early age as she helped her daddy in the fields.
“We worked, too. Before I went to school, my brother who’s a year older than me went to first grade, so I had to help daddy in the field,” Lisa reminisced. “He’d take the tractors down there, and he’d be in the field on one tractor. Then, he’d put me on a tractor, and I may be cutting the hay or something. He’d put me on the tractor and get it in gear because I couldn’t touch the pedals or anything. I’d do whatever he told me to do, and then when I finished my job he’d come over and jump on the tractor and stop it. I was about six years old at the time. As I got older, I’d still work in the hay field with them. It’s just something we grew up doing: working. We had cows and hogs and all kinds of animals, so we had to work. My brothers did a lot more than I did, but I enjoyed it.”
While she was never really a fan of school, there was one thing at school that Lisa enjoyed doing and was very good at: basketball.
“I went to Quitman and played basketball. School wasn’t really my thing, but my mom and dad were both good basketball players, and I think I inherited a little bit of athleticism from them. I played ninth through twelfth grades,” recalled Lisa. “Coach Morgan had a big influence on me. She was hard on us, but it was a good thing.”
Her coach’s influence was strong enough to convince her to continue her education and continue playing basketball a couple more years. Participating in sports in college allowed her the opportunity to play on the All-Star team.
“When I graduated from Quitman, I had not intended to go to college because I just wasn’t a school person. Coach Morgan got me to try out down at Jones to play basketball, and I made the team. That was fun and different from high school because we travelled all over the state. It was a good experience because I’d never left home much and met more people when I was down there,” expressed Lisa. “I was supposed to room with somebody from Quitman, but I got a letter in the mail saying I’d have to room with athletes. They put me in a room with a girl I had played against for four years from West Jones. We became good friends and roomed together both years. The highlight of that was my roommate was chosen to play in the Junior College All Star team on the south team. About a week before, she fractured her ankle, and the coach chose me to replace her. I got to play for the All Star south team.”
Once she graduated from Jones, she found a job and started her family.
“I was dating my husband, Kenneth Dearman, at the time. He was working at Burlington, so I went to work at Burlington and worked there about a year and a half,” explained Lisa. “We got married in July of 1981, and he went offshore for the first time about two weeks after we got married. I continued working at Burlington on second shift, so it was like we didn’t have any time together. I told him that when we had that week off in December that I wasn’t going back. I quit working at Burlington in December of 1981.”
It wasn’t long after she left her job at Burlington that she eventually ended up with the job at Great Southern that so many people in the county know her for doing.
“From January to April, I substituted at Quitman schools, and then I was looking for something else because I decided I needed to go back to work,” continued Lisa. “I was looking for a full time job, and my mom actually worked here at the bank for about four years, and she had never worked outside the home until then. My grandmother got sick, and she left the bank to go home and take care of her. I was looking for a job, and she called Robert Smith who was the president then and asked if there were any openings at the bank. He said yes and had me put in an application, and he hired me.”
Despite never working in banking before, she learned through hands-on experience and worked hard to receive multiple promotions over the years.
“I had no experience when I came in. I started out as a teller on April Fool’s Day of 1982. I worked in the bookkeeping department for a while. Then, I went to the drive-through and worked back there a few years when I first came to work here,” informed Lisa. “Then, I worked in the loan department for a few years and came back to the other side and ran the one pocket proof machine. Then, I was head teller for a while. I’ve worked every department. I went back to the loan department after the head teller job and worked for several more years. We had four people who were fixing to retire, so Robert called me and asked if I was sure I didn’t want to be a loan officer. I told him I’d rather work on the deposit side of the bank, and he let me come back to the deposit side, and I’ve worked on this side for about 16 years. I just moved up and became an officer, which just has a little more responsibility. After being a branch officer, I became an assistant vice president, then vice president, and now I’m senior vice president. I’ve moved up through the ranks, but I’ve worked hard for it.”
After 40 years at the bank, she has decided that the time has come for a change.
“I’m about to retire. I’ve had 40 years here, so I’m going to retire at the end of July,” stated Lisa. “I’ve been blessed to work here for 40 years, so it’ll be bittersweet when I walk out the door. I know I’ll miss my customers the most because I’ve had a lot of good customers that’ll come in and want to see me. I’ve enjoyed working with all the girls here, too. We have a good group of women working here, and one man now since Adam is going to be over the bank when Cathy leaves. I just try to encourage the girls and let them know they can do anything.”
While she has always worked hard and loved, her job, there are things that Lisa enjoys doing in her free time. She enjoys spending time with her family and loves to do different things outside.
“I’ve taken up photography, and I really like taking nature photos: flowers and animals and all,” described Lisa. “I’m a tomboy from way back, so I like to hunt and fish. It’s something I look forward to. I hunt deer and hogs. I don’t hunt turkeys because I can’t stay still enough to hunt turkeys. I’ve killed a few deer in my time. I’ll take my camera with me when I go. I love to be sitting in the stand in the mornings when the sun is rising. I try to take pictures of the things I don’t want to shoot, but if it’s something I want to shoot I don’t have time for pictures.”
She also enjoys camping and spending time with friends.
“We have a camper, so we go camping,” said Lisa. “We have some friends from the coast that we go camping with, and we’ve already been on one trip this year.”
With each day that goes by, Lisa will continue to inspire and uplift her coworkers and customers at the bank. Even when she’s retired later this year, she will continue to offer those around her joy and love with her endearing smile and caring heart.
If you would like to nominate someone for Person of the Week, contact Brittney Mangum at 601-776-3726.
