Perrodin, Thompson set to retire from BC Bank

After 28 years with Bridge City Bank, Bonnie Perrodin is calling it quits at the Orange Branch at the end of this week, while Judy Thompson will be retiring after 18 years on Jan. 3, 2025.

There will be coffee and cake at the Orange Branch Thursday honoring Perrodin so she has one last chance to say goodbye to her customers. Her official retirement date is Dec. 20 on paper, but she said she is only coming on Friday to turn in her keys and let her grandkids play on the typewriter one last time.

There will be a combined retirement party for both women at a future date yet to be determined.

Perrodin started at the Bridge City Branch in August 1996.

"Jerry Davidson interviewed me and he hired me spot," said Perrodin. She started in the bookkeeping department.

Ouida Simonton trained her. "She said, 'OK this is a debit and this is a credit' and I looked at her with you know dear headlights. She just started laughing. She said, 'So you don't know what this is' and I said, 'No ma'am. I can balance my checkbook but that's it.' We've joked about that ever since. She got me on my feet and I took off after that." Perrodin continued, "It has it's been a great place. I miss it."

"In 2009 I moved into human resources and then in 2017 I moved to the Orange Branch and I became the branch manager, remaining human resources as well and became assistant vice president," said Perrodin.

Thompson is the assistant vice president and supervisor of bookkeeping in the Bridge City Branch. She came to Bridge City after the previous bank she worked at went through several name changes and she eventually was displaced after 22 years.

"I've been in banking for like 40 years," Thompson said. She is looking forward to not having to get up in the morning and get dressed. She will start looking after a new great-grandchild when her granddaughter delivers in March.

"She just started the dental hygienist program and I wanna make sure she gets through it so I told her I'd keep the baby," said Thompson. "She went to Lamar and got all of her stuff, but then she just got accepted into the dental hygienist program and then she found out she was pregnant, so I told her I'll keep the baby as long as you go to school and finish."

"My daughter's a teacher so she'll be off during the summer so I'll have summertime off too." Thompson said her other plans are just doing things around the house with the family. "I wanna be able to get up and if I wanna go somewhere, go somewhere. If I don't, I don't."

Thompson said, "I've got a sister that lives off. She's waiting for me to retire so I can come up there and help her do stuff and my daughter's already reserved me for January the 6th. She's a teacher and she got a new shelf she wants me to come and help her organize it. My son gets me to run errands with him and so they're gonna keep me busy for sure."

"I'm gonna miss all the people here," said Thompson. "They're basically your family, I mean you're with them all the time.

Perrodin plans to embroider for her next phase. She bought a 10-needle commercial embroidery machine this past year.

"I have a little small business at home that I've started called Willow and Grace and so you can find me on Facebook, but that's what I'll do in my spare time," said Perrodin. She also plans to do some gardening. "I love working outside and my flower beds I enjoy all that."