dbryce@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - After almost three decades in the banking business, Bob Flandro is retiring.

Flandro, 62, vice president, loan officer and branch manager at Citizens Community Bank, spent Wednesday cleaning out his desk, and an open house is planned for today, which is Flandro's last day on the job.

Chief Executive Officer Ralph Kottle said he's known Flandro for about 30 years and says it won't be the same at the bank without him.

"He's become an intricate part of the way we do things here," Kottle said. "It's going to be a little strange here without him."

Flandro, a Vietnam veteran and a former helicopter pilot for the Idaho National Guard, might not be showing up at the office every morning after Thursday, but that doesn't mean he'll be slowing down.

Currently the president of the Portneuf Healthcare Foundation Endowment Board, Flandro said the group is looking to improve local health care systems outside of the hospital.

Prior to Legacy Hospital Partners acquiring PMC, the foundation had raised more than $3 million toward renovations to the emergency room. Since the hospital consolidation, the funds can no longer be used for building or equipment due to Legacy's status as a for-profit agency.

So, Flandro said, the Endowment Board is looking at the Pocatello Free Clinic, nurses and employee training and other community health care programs that could benefit from the funds.

"We've got a number of things we need to take care of over the next two years," Flandro said.

He and his wife, Jude, have been married 35 years and have two sons. Flandro moved to Pocatello as a child when his father opened C. Ed Flandro Ford-Lincoln-Mercury.

Flandro was the business manager at Park Price Motors prior to joining the staff at Citizens Community Bank. He is a past president of the Pocatello Chiefs, the Idaho State University Bengal Foundation and has served on the boards of the ISU Civic Symphony, ISU Alumni and the Pocatello Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the Rotary Club of Pocatello.

It's been a bad year for banks and bankers nationwide, but Flandro said Citizens Community Bank has weathered the storm well.

Citizens Community Bank is owned by Glacier BandCorp. The holding company was rated No. 1 out of the top 150 banks in the country.

"I have really enjoyed the time I spent at Citizens Community Bank," Flandro said. "It's been one of the best jobs I've ever had."