David Rounds
1965
First off, it has been great to become friends with so many of you on Facebook since the GCHS65.com website opened. Wow, 50 years sure flew by, are you kidding me? It seems like only yesterday when a bunch of us were throwing eggs at cars, hanging out at Bob’s Big Boy, and trying to impress girls.
After high school, I pretty much goofed off for a year and a half. I was enrolled at Pierce College in an effort to avoid the draft. But, I rarely went to class and spent the bulk of my time in the gym playing basketball. Uncle Sam quickly figured out was I was doing and so I got drafted like so many of us did at that time. After taking the written exam and passing my physical exam, I was one of the lucky ones chosen to be a marine. I thought no way!!! I was simply too small weighing about 140 pounds and being only 5’7” tall at the time.
I knew being a marine was not for me so I enlisted in the Air Force. The recruiter asked me what field I wanted to be in. I would have said left field but I knew he wasn’t talking about baseball. I asked him what the hardest was and he said intelligence. That sounded pretty cool, so I chose that. While in basic training I was given a language aptitude test along with a bunch of other guys. The next thing I knew, I was on my way to Indiana University to learn Russian. Through intensive study, I completed four years of Russian in nine months. After radio school,it was time to get our overseas assignments. The married guys got the good assignments and the unmarried guys got the crappy ones. Well, I got the crappiest one of all, Peshawar, West Pakistan, 200 miles from the Russian/Chinese border. Oh joy! 18 months flew by fairly quickly and I was sent back to the states to finish up my four year commitment. I got stationed in Maryland at the National Security Agency. I only had to work 4 hours a day there so spent a lot of time playing basketball, fast pitch softball, and golf. What a life!!! I was offered $10,000, another stripe on my sleeve and choice of assignment if I reenlisted. Passing up $10,000 was very difficult (I was only 23) but I turned it down and was given an Honorable Discharge on February 23rd, 1971.
I had no job, not much money, no place to live, no car and not even a bank account. By March 1st I had them all. I took a job at a local bank for $350 a month. I had my doubts then why I didn’t stay in the Air Force where I made more money, had free room and board and could borrow friend’s cars to get around. Nevertheless I ventured on, moving back to California in early 1972 where I got a job at a bank in LA.
After high school, I pretty much goofed off for a year and a half. I was enrolled at Pierce College in an effort to avoid the draft. But, I rarely went to class and spent the bulk of my time in the gym playing basketball. Uncle Sam quickly figured out was I was doing and so I got drafted like so many of us did at that time. After taking the written exam and passing my physical exam, I was one of the lucky ones chosen to be a marine. I thought no way!!! I was simply too small weighing about 140 pounds and being only 5’7” tall at the time.
I knew being a marine was not for me so I enlisted in the Air Force. The recruiter asked me what field I wanted to be in. I would have said left field but I knew he wasn’t talking about baseball. I asked him what the hardest was and he said intelligence. That sounded pretty cool, so I chose that. While in basic training I was given a language aptitude test along with a bunch of other guys. The next thing I knew, I was on my way to Indiana University to learn Russian. Through intensive study, I completed four years of Russian in nine months. After radio school,it was time to get our overseas assignments. The married guys got the good assignments and the unmarried guys got the crappy ones. Well, I got the crappiest one of all, Peshawar, West Pakistan, 200 miles from the Russian/Chinese border. Oh joy! 18 months flew by fairly quickly and I was sent back to the states to finish up my four year commitment. I got stationed in Maryland at the National Security Agency. I only had to work 4 hours a day there so spent a lot of time playing basketball, fast pitch softball, and golf. What a life!!! I was offered $10,000, another stripe on my sleeve and choice of assignment if I reenlisted. Passing up $10,000 was very difficult (I was only 23) but I turned it down and was given an Honorable Discharge on February 23rd, 1971.
I had no job, not much money, no place to live, no car and not even a bank account. By March 1st I had them all. I took a job at a local bank for $350 a month. I had my doubts then why I didn’t stay in the Air Force where I made more money, had free room and board and could borrow friend’s cars to get around. Nevertheless I ventured on, moving back to California in early 1972 where I got a job at a bank in LA.
Now
I got married in 1973 to my now ex-wife and continued to work at the bank and go to school at night. We bought our first house in Van Nuys in 1975. We were able to make the payments from the money I received from the GI Bill for going to school. In 1977, the branch of the bank I was working at was robbed 4 times (had a 9 mm hand gun pointed at my head once) and our house was burglarized as well. We had had enough and moved north to Atascadero, a quaint town of 6000 at the time with only one traffic light. I got a job at a local bank where I worked for the next 11 years, finally getting into middle management (where the big bucks started, NOT!). In 1989 I convinced a bunch of local business people and friends to provide capital to found a new bank in Templeton with me as the President/CEO. I had just gotten my Masters equivalent in banking from Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington. The bank was a success and we had several offers to be bought or merged with other banks. In 1995, we got an offer “we couldn’t refuse”. We sold for more than twice the book value of our stock. I stayed on to manage two of the branches until we were bought by the same bank I had worked for prior to leaving to open the bank in Templeton. This time however, I remained in senior management as division credit officer for 27 branches. With merger mania well under way, we were bought out by another bank in 2007 for a very good price. I stayed for a year and retired in 2008.
After getting divorced in 2005, I reconnected with my “first” girlfriend, Cyndee Herles (Overton, class of 1969). Classmates.com is how we met. She was and still is a banker in senior management. Shoot, someone has to work, right? We got married in October 2006. I have a daughter (29) from my first marriage and Cyndee has two sons (28 and 24) from her marriage. I am so thankful for being reunited with Cyndee. She is the love of my life, my best friend, and truly my soul mate. Who could ask for anything better than that?
Even while working, going to school, and everything else going on, I remained a sports fanatic playing fast pitch softball, racquetball, basketball and golf. Somehow I managed to find time to play sports, likely as an outlet from the stress at work.
Cyndee plans to retire early next year at which time we will likely move to Nevada (no state income tax) and begin enjoying the “Good Life”. The past 50 years have been a good ride even though there were rocky times along the way. I hope you all have been as blessed as I have been.
After getting divorced in 2005, I reconnected with my “first” girlfriend, Cyndee Herles (Overton, class of 1969). Classmates.com is how we met. She was and still is a banker in senior management. Shoot, someone has to work, right? We got married in October 2006. I have a daughter (29) from my first marriage and Cyndee has two sons (28 and 24) from her marriage. I am so thankful for being reunited with Cyndee. She is the love of my life, my best friend, and truly my soul mate. Who could ask for anything better than that?
Even while working, going to school, and everything else going on, I remained a sports fanatic playing fast pitch softball, racquetball, basketball and golf. Somehow I managed to find time to play sports, likely as an outlet from the stress at work.
Cyndee plans to retire early next year at which time we will likely move to Nevada (no state income tax) and begin enjoying the “Good Life”. The past 50 years have been a good ride even though there were rocky times along the way. I hope you all have been as blessed as I have been.
My wife Cyndee and myself, on a cruise to the Panama Canal and the Southern Caribbean (2012)
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My wife Cyndee, myself, my sister and her husband while in Las Vegas in March 2014 for the PAC 12 basketball tournament (Yeah UCLA)
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My daughter, Meredith, and I at her November 2011 wedding ceremony
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Me at Basic Training, Air Force
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Our base basketball team, while I served in Pakistan (I'm number 11)
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Me Today (2014)
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Our wedding picture
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The Cowboy Banker
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I spent the majority of my career in the banking industry
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Comments
Thank you for sharing your story, Dave. It's a great composition and I really enjoyed following your adventure through the past 50 years. I'm grateful we have been able to connect after all this time. Thanks for stepping up and sharing your life.
Jeff Davis
Jeff Davis
Hi Dave,
Wow. You have been busy. I lost touch with you after your Air Force years of stealth and intrigue. It will be nice to catch up with the last 40 years of your banking career and mergers etc. I mean, who starts banks??? You are a special one of a kind person. Congratulations on retirement!
Dick Eyster