GRAVETTE -- Sharron Edmondson will retire from the Bank of Gravett at the end of the year. Her retirement will mark the end of her family's 120-year ownership of the bank.
The Bank of Gravett is the oldest bank in Benton County. It was chartered on March 1, 1898, and opened for business March 21, 1898. Sharron's great-grandfather, James Turner Edmondson, was the founder of the bank and was one of the original members of the board of directors. He served as bank president from 1912 to 1957. James Turner was a representative of Indian Territory who named Delaware County in the Constitutional Convention.
Sharron's grandfather, James T. ("Jim") Edmondson, served as bank president from 1958 to 1983, and her father, Jim Allen Edmondson, was chairman and vice president of Gravett BankShares Inc. until it was merged with Legacy BancShares on July 6, 2018.
Sharron carried on the Edmondson family tradition and instituted the family's fourth generation with the bank when she began her employment with the Bank of Gravett in 1996 as an appraiser. She was later appointed to the board of directors and became bank president in early 2017, where she served until the merger occurred in July 2018.
Prior to joining the bank, she was employed as an art teacher at Jay High School and Oaks Mission School in Oklahoma while helping manage the family farm operation of livestock, swine, poultry and crops. She still lives on the Edmondson family Centennial Farm southwest of Maysville with her father, Jim Allen, and her daughter, Dusti Dawn Crace. The Edmondson family farm is also home of Fort Wayne, a historic Civil War battlefield.
A retirement party will be held for Edmondson from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14, at the bank. The reception will also honor two other employees who are retiring effective Dec. 31. Bob King, senior vice president, is a credit risk officer and has been a bank employee for over 20 years, and Jody Russell, senior vice president, is loan operations manager and has been with the bank for 4 1/2 years. She had previously worked 25 years for Arvest Bank and 13 years for Federal Savings Bank (now Regions Bank), both in Rogers.
Community on 12/12/2018