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Pettibon new deputy collector
Vernon County has a new deputy collector, her name is Katie Pettibon. Born in Nevada, she graduated from Nevada High School in 1975. She is the daughter of Suzanne and Bill Richardson whom many remember for their store, Richardson’s Office Supply, which operated from 1957 until it was sold to Greg and Dana Cavener in 1996.
The Tuesday morning interview was conducted in the vault of the Treasurer’s office
“My husband Fred and I are blessed with two wonderful sons,” said Pettibon.
She said it makes her feel old to say it but, “One is 32 years old and the other is 28.”
The older one is an ultrasound and X-ray technician for a firm which checks the welds on pipelines all over the country.
“He and his family recently came back from Pennsylvania and will be going off to West Virginia, maybe as soon as this week,” said Pettibon. “They have our two grandchildren, one’s three and the other is five.”
The Pettibon’s younger son is single and resides in Overland Park; he works for the Magnolia division of Best Buy.
Asked about her work life she said, “Well, I guess you could say this is the third job I’ve held; I tend to stay put.”
Pettibon worked for her parents’ company doing a bit of everything with a focus on accounting; she worked for them some 25 years.
After the passing of her father, she and her mother decided to sell the business.
“I continued doing some bookkeeping and accounting for people until 1998,” said Pettibon. “That’s when I went to work at First National Bank and that’s where I was till last Tuesday.”
Pettibon, a loan processor at the bank, said she had enjoyed her work and got close to several coworkers, she expressed her gratitude to the bank for the position.
“But several friends came to me and encouraged me to apply saying I’d be really good since I knew accounting and knew several at the courthouse and that I love working with the public,” said Pettibon. “And here I am.”
Her husband Fred is a supply chain analyst and this October will mark his 40th year with 3M.
Asked why she is taking on a new job instead of soon retiring with her husband she said, “Two words, health insurance.”
“I think Brent [Banes] will be easy to work for and Taylor [Hackleman, deputy treasurer, who returns back from maternity leave next week] will be a joy,” said Pettibon.
The conversation drifted to memories of her parents and qualities she most admired in them. Working alongside them as an adult, Pettibon saw what they did for others.
“It used to be you could finance things all around the Square — your appliances or your tires — and that’s how businesses made their living but that’s how some people got in over their head,” explained Pettibon.
She said it was common that the customer would tell the store when payday was and the store would send someone to knock on their door that day, seeking that month’s payment.
Pettibon told of how her parents helped a good number of folks and would contact the businesses and say, “Look, we’ll guarantee you this much money every week or every month if you will work with us to help them.”
“And they did, and the reason I know is because I was doing all their bookkeeping,” said the deputy collector.
She spoke of how a number of people had never learned how to budget and save or manage credit wisely. She said some learned these lessons quickly and well while others relied on her parents to help them manage their money each month and year after year.
“I’ve seen them come in with everybody knocking on their door for one small paycheck, to them to be able to purchase a home,” said Pettibon. “They helped a lot of people that way and I mean a lot.”
Pettibon spoke of how her parents were well aware of the trust they had with many people and were careful not to take advantage of this but simply give them the information and let them make the decisions.
“There was always a friendship relationship in the end and a lot of respect from both sides,” she added.
When her father died in the mid-1990s, his funeral was held at All Saints Episcopal Church in Nevada.
The interview paused as tears began to flow and then she recounted a wondrous moment.
“At the end of the funeral, when I stood up and looked around, that’s when I noticed the place was just packed with people in every seat with others standing wherever there was a place and even outside the sidewalk was full of people. It was a great tribute to my father.”
Pettibon spoke of how her father was quite gregarious while her mother was charming but a bit more serious. Suzanne was from Kansas City and met William — a native of Nevada — while she attended Cottey College.
“I was raised in a very strict household,” said Pettibon.
But years later, on a visit home, she found that while her father was babysitting one of his very young grandchildren, he simply watched as the boy peeled wallpaper off the wall.
She mimicked her exasperated tone and her father’s lower pitched voice saying, “Dad, if one of us had done something like that you would have beat us half to death. And he said, ‘My job as a grandparent is to let them swing from the chandeliers if I so choose and it’s up to you all to straighten ‘em out when you get ‘em home.”
Tears came again but this time they came with hearty laughter.
She briefly alluded to how her mother, in an effort to continue the generosity they had practiced with so many over the years, ended up being swindled out of a large amount of money.
Pettibon said, “It was bad enough what was done to my mother but I refuse to let it eat me up by dwelling on it.”
While dementia has taken its toll on her mother, Pettibon expressed her gratitude saying many friends her age do not have any parent to visit.
Concluded Pettibon, “Besides I’ve got all these wonderful memories and I’ve got scrapbooks to fill and all these great stories to tell nieces, nephews and my own grandchildren. I’ve got a lot to look forward to.”
And as if on cue, someone entered the office. Katie Pettibon jumped up, wiped back the last of the tears, laughed again at the wallpaper story and said, “How may I help you?”