Archie Hulsizer: A life focused on the positives

There is no way to do justice to everything retired bank executive Archie Hulsizer has accomplished in his "almost-93" year-old life. He has lived in the same unpretentious Wallace house for many decades because "my wife LoRayne loved it and didn't want to move." He was also the fastest typist in his high school class and the marbles champion of Sheridan Elementary School.

You moved from Spokane to Wallace almost three-quarters of a century ago. Why the relocation?

I moved because I'd gotten the job of bank teller at the First National Bank of Wallace. There were five of us at the bank, all men and I was the kid of the group. We had metal cages for the tellers back then and you had to lock yourself in. There was also a guard with a shotgun up in the balcony and each teller had a pistol under the counter. The pistol couldn't hit a can at 10 feet, but it sure could blow a hole in your stomach if you decided to try to hold up the bank.

I made $85 a month then and could eat at one of the local restaurants for a dollar a day for three meals.

Did the bank have an alarm system?

Sure it did. The problem was what you had to do to disarm the thing if it went off by mistake. First you went next door up to the second floor. Then you had to go out a window, climb a ladder to the roof, get back over to the bank roof and go to the ledge there. Once you were hanging over the ledge, you had to take out the bolts in order to disarm the alarm.

Was your wife LoRayne in the picture in your early banking days?

LoRayne and I first met at 16 and 18, so the answer to that is "yes." In the end, we had 73 wonderful years together.

How did you meet?

I was playing for a dance and one of the other guys in the band knew her and introduced us. I said, "Well, I don't know how to dance." And she said, "I'll teach you." And did she ever.

So you were the musical type?

I played clarinet, alto sax and piano. In high school I was in the band, orchestra, pep band and dance band. I played at the Spokane Country Club, the Hayden Lake Country Club and the Davenport Hotel. I also played in Lewiston and Harrison and all around the area.

During the Depression, I was playing for dances for 50 cents a night, which just about bought me a few gallons of gas. My uncle gave me a 1928 Chevrolet Cabriolet when I was 16 and it could go up to 35 miles an hour. The gas mileage wasn't any good and neither were the tires.

Did you ever hope for a career in music?

Not really. And I was too small to be an athlete, which was what the other kids wanted to be.

My father died in a truck-train accident in 1921 when I was seven weeks old, so maybe that was why I never had any dreams.

I did get a scholarship to Pacific University in Oregon to become an optometrist, but even with the scholarship I couldn't afford to go.

There are so many positive things to do in this world and you just need to do them. There are also negative things and you don't want to dwell on the negative, you just need to keep an eye on it because it can pop up and bite you. My philosophy is to solve things and move on.

What about World War II?

After Pearl Harbor, I enlisted in the Air Force and spent 43 months in the service. I was discharged on Valentines Day 1946. My last assignments were Eniwetok and Guam and then Iwo Jima - I was attached to a P47.

And then I came back to Wallace and the bank.

How long were you at the bank?

I spent 70 years in the First National Bank of Wallace building. It was the first nationally organized bank in Shoshone County. I was in the building until 2010. I retired as senior vice president in 1986 when I was 65.

After that, I remained on the board of directors until we sold the bank in 1991 to the First Security Bank of Idaho. After they sold it, I was asked to be on the northern region advisory board of directors for them. When we sold that bank to Wells Fargo, I was on their regional advisory board.

What was it about banking that you enjoyed so much?

I loved helping people - one of the joys of my life is helping other people.

It was different back in those days because you knew everybody. It was a small town. You could see generations - you knew about their schooling and the cars they bought and the homes they lived in.

You trusted people. People would rather die before they wouldn't pay you back.

Once a bank examiner asked me where my credit files were. I didn't know what he was talking about because I'd never seen a credit file. You loaned people money and they paid you back.

Where did the expression "bankers' hours" come from?

Back then banks were open from 10 to 3. But those were banking hours, not bankers' hours. Bankers' hours were full days just like anyone else's and sometimes they were even longer.

I know you served on the board of the Northern Pacific Depot Foundation and were influential in getting the depot moved across the creek during the I-90 expansion plan. What exactly happened?

A small group of us helped keep the freeway out of Wallace for almost 20 years. That whole time Wallace had the only stoplight (on the Interstate 90 route) between Seattle and Boston because back then the traffic had to come through town. Then they wanted to run the freeway through the center of Wallace and that would have ruined the town.

We finally got a judgment to stop it because they didn't have an environmental impact statement and the traffic noise would have affected the people living on the hills. Finally one day the Idaho Transportation Board people came up here and we had breakfast with them. In the end, they agreed to move the depot - which was in the way of the final freeway plan - across the creek and today it's a museum.

We had a pretend burial for that stoplight on the depot lawn - had an undertaker and all.

What about your involvement with the Mining Museum?

I've been on the board of the Wallace District Mining Museum for years and I've given them so many things - all kinds of historic stuff like the original 1892 minutes from the bank and a pistol from one of the teller cages.

What are some of the other organizations you've been involved with?

I've been a trustee of the Wallace Public Library and director of the Wallace Public Library Foundation. I was also school district treasurer for 40 years.

I belong to the Congregational Church and directed the choir there for over 25 years.

I'm the oldest living past exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge - I'm still an active member there - and I joined the Masonic Lodge in 1946. I've been a member of the American Legion for over 64 years and am a lifetime member of the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars).

I was also chairman of the Wallace Centennial in 1984.

You know, if you live long enough and live in one place long enough - like Wallace - you're going to get involved, especially if you've worked someplace like the bank the way I did.

What about politics?

Well, I was mayor of Wallace for about three years and spent 17 years on the city council before that. Let me tell you, I didn't ask for either position.

You were Mayor during the filming of "Dante's Peak," weren't you?

Sure was and didn't want to wash my face for days because Linda Hamilton once gave me a kiss on the right cheek. (laughs)

Any other highlights?

I was president of Slippery Gulch for 33 years - they do old-time events like a show where maybe 10 guys in tutus will put on a swan dance - got a black duck instead of the swan. Anyway, we raise funds and give the money to other organizations.

I'm also president of the Callahan Zeller foundation. We meet once a year and give away any money we've earned - last year about $21,000 went to various local 501c3s.

Where do you go when you want to get out of town?

I had a couple of summer homes out at Diamond Lake north of Spokane and I've been going there since 1921.

Last summer we had 27 of my family out there - seven generations have been to that place.

Gov. Cecil Andrus proclaimed July 18, 1990 "Archie Hulsizer Day in Wallace". How'd that make you feel?

You can see the joy I get out of doing things for others. It's always been a joy for me. I've been blessed. I've had so many opportunities and just been in the right place at the right time.

And you know what? I'm enjoying every moment of it.