Larie Schoap has always known Emporia was a caring community. It’s only been since she announced she was moving to Manhattan that she learned from personal experience htow committed Emporians can be when they get involved.
Schoap starts work on Oct. 5 in business development and mortgage lending at ESB Financial’s branch in Manhattan, after 30 years in banking here.
On Friday, she worked her last day as senior vice president for residential lending at Lyon County State Bank. Before that, she had worked for Citizens National Bank, which later became Bank IV, where she was vice president for consumer and residential lending.
Since moving to Emporia from Chase County, Schoap has been deeply involved in volunteering for a broad spectrum of community projects, from the annual Christmas Parade to church committees to heading a United Way drive that raised more than $617,000; the Emporia Chamber of Commerce and its Leadership Emporia program have been long-term favorites for her participation.
In recognition of her vigorous efforts to better the community, she was named The Gazette’s Citizen of the Year in the 2007 Profile Edition.
Deciding to leave this community and a job she enjoyed briefly caught Schoap between loyalty to the bank and her now-former boss, Tom Thompson, and loyalty to herself and a career advancement.
“He’s been wonderful to me,” she said during an interview this week. “I’m still taking care of loan customers, contributing with training, marketing ideas, sitting on committees. He just really trusts me and what I’m going to do for him because he knows I’m working for him up to the 18th.”
ESB Financial recognized Schoap’s abilities and loyalties, too, and knew her well enough to know that a job in Manhattan might be an attractive one.
Schoap graduated from Kansas State University and serves on numerous committees and boards for the university, including the alumni board of directors and the executive council for the school of leadership study, which is the largest minor on campus, she said.
“That’s going to be a tremendous asset for me when I go up to Manhattan,” she said.
“... I always said if I ever moved anywhere, if it wasn’t Emporia, the only other place I would live, would consider, was Manhattan,” she said. “Well, they all remembered me saying that. ... That’s why they had Ken Buchele call me initially.”
Buchele, a former co-worker at Citizens and Bank IV, and a fellow K-State supporter, coaxed Schoap into considering the move.
It didn’t hurt that a combined effort by the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and the K-State Alumni Association had been mailing propaganda her way for some time.
“We alums at a certain age for several years have been getting brochures, literature, from Manhattan and K-State ... that says, ‘Come home to K-State,’” she said.
The brochures suggest alumni consider relocating to Manhattan or opening up business offices there; anything that would bring people and commerce to that city, with the bonus of additional alumni to support the university.
“So, I guess I’m doing what they’re expecting me to do,” Schoap said.
What she hadn’t expected was the outpouring of support she’s gotten since friends and business colleagues learned she planned to leave town.
“So many people are doing such wonderful things for me,” she said.
Emporia State University President Mike Lane already has told K-State’s new president that Schoap is heading to Manhattan. Another friend e-mailed to invite her to a noon Rotary Club meeting, not realizing that Schoap is a member of Noon Rotary here. Chamber of Commerce President Jeanine McKenna has been in touch with Lyle Butler, president of the Manhattan Chamber, to let him know that a willing and experienced volunteer will be ripe for the picking after she settles into her new condo. Emporians have given her names and numbers of their friends and relatives to help ease her transition from here to Manhattan. And the list goes on and on.
“It’s been really nice how the community has said, ‘Here, we want to help and introduce you to people already.’ That’s really exceptionally nice of everyone,” Schoap said.
Her long career in Emporia has produced literally thousands of friends and acquaintances that will be impossible to replace. She’s already thought ahead to the mundane but meaningful ways the move will affect her.
Here, a trip through the grocery store brings her into contact and conversations up and down the aisles; in Manhattan, she’ll shop alone.
“That’ll be something I’ll have to get used to,” she said.
She expects to return to Emporia occasionally because ESB Financial’s headquarters is here.
“Of course there’s events in the community that I will not miss — the Chamber annual dinner. ESU-Washburn basketball games. Got to come home for those,” she said.
She’s threatened to take Janice Jaggard along with her, because Jaggard has cut her hair since Schoap was 16 years old. Chances are, she’ll have to come back to Emporia for that, too.
Schoap remains on the Leadership Emporia board, and will teach a leadership class in October for the group, and she’s still on the Christmas Parade committee and will be back for that event.
“I’ve already taken care of my one biggest duty,” Schoap said. “I got hold of Santa Claus and he said he’d come again this year. I’m the only one who has Santa’s personal phone number.”
neighbor (anonymous) says...
My family and I will miss Larie's can do personality at the Lyon Co. State Bank. You have provided my wife and I opportunities that other bankers would not have thought of offering. You wrote our first home loan, when we were still newlyweds and didn't have much to our name or credit. Then six years ago, you granted us a construction loan 20 minutes after walking into your bank and laying out our plan. Just a week or so ago, you came thru once again providing us with copies of the construction material receipts we thought were gone forever. Have fun in Manhattan, and best of luck to you in this change in paths. Thanks for all you have done for us, we are going to miss you very much.
September 20, 2009 at 11:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )