Richard Kohrumel:
CLASS OF 1969
Berner High SchoolClass of 1969
Massapequa, NY
Richard's Story
After graduating from Berner, I attended and got a B.S. degree in Business Administration with an Accounting concentrate from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (where my Guidance Counselor recommended and where the niece of my 12th grade math teacher - Mr. Hall - had attended.) Upon graduating, I was given a job offer from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. I was inspired to apply there because one of my professors - Mr. Griffin - was an economist there before coming to Marist. After a few years in Credit Analysis, I became a Compliance Bank Examiner, which is where my career took root. Although receiving the President's Award in late 1983 for outstanding examination work, I resigned to attend the University of Steubenville (Ohio) - now Franciscan University of Steubenville - to obtain a M.A. in Theology. Being still single, I was searching for God's will for my life. Just before graduating, I received my direction which was my heart's desire: to get married and raise a family. On November 9, 1985, I was married to Madeline Beierle of Massapequa (a Massapequa HS graduate), Upon graduating from Franciscan U., although offered a FT position back at the Federal Reserve Bank of NY, I applied for and was accepted for a position of Compliance Officer at the then European-American Bank. I wanted this only because "EAB" was located in Uniondale, which was close to my wife's and I residence in an apartment in Levittown. We ended up buying our first house in Lake Grove - still a decent commute from Uniondale. In 1989, my boss - a former Safety & Soundness Examiner from the FRB of NY and now head of Auditing, said the Federal Home Loan Bank was starting up Compliance Examination departments across the country. Since my parents had moved in 1988 to Murrells Inlet (near Myrtle Beach), SC, I decided to apply - and was accepted - by the FHLB of Atlanta. It was my wife's first move off of Long Island! We bought a house in July 1990 in Lawrenceville, Georgia - about 25 miles from midtown Atlanta where the FHLB was located. In January 1990, after the passing of "FIRREA" (a Go...Expand for more
ogle research item!), the bank examination side of the FHLB's nationwide became the "Office of Thrift Supervision." I was promoted concurrently to become the Manager of the Compliance Examination and Consumer Affairs Department. It was a great role! However, the savings & loan industry dove into a steep decline, which caused the shrinking of the "OTS" to the point that they reduced and eliminated many managerial positions. So... in 1996 I became a "Senior Senior Bank Examiner", and soon after was told by my manager - one of the two Deputy Regional Directors - that I was to become the Accounting, Budget, and Payroll Manager for the Southeast region. No problem, I said! Then, when 9/11 happened and one of the terrorist planes ran into the Pentagon - it turned out to be where the Treasury's and OTS' central Accounting Departments were located. This, along with the continued shrinkage of the S&L industry, caused the termination of all regional Accounting, Budget & Payroll positions, and soon thereafter I was part of a "RIF" (reduction in force). My journey then became a semi-whirlwind: 1 year back at the FRB of NY, 4 years with RBC Centura Bank - based in NC (our family almost moved there after I was promoted to Regulatory Compliance Audit Manager), 1 year with SunTrust Bank in Atlanta, 3 years with a "loss-share bank" (another Google research item!) named "Community & Southern Bank", then 3 years with FTI Consulting - a global/mega consulting company that was trying to build a regulatory compliance department in the Big Apple (but allowed me to be based in Atlanta). In late 2018 and early 2019 I did a stint as an Senior Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Investigator working for Capital One Bank in Plano, Texas. Since then the AML work has significantly dried up, but in October 2019 I became the Administrative Assistant for my local parish - St. Marguerite d'Youville Catholic Church in Lawrenceville, GA. With COVID, I have been able to work remotely from home, which is where I am writing this little ditty from.
Hope to hear from YOU, my classmates from the Class of '69!
Rick
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