Paul Ball Retires After 41 Years Of Banking In Hope

By Staff, 06/30/20 3:50 PM

After 41 years, a banking stalwart in Hope is wrapping up his career.  Paul Ball, Market President for Farmers Bank & Trust in Hope is retiring as of June 30th.  His career in Hope was split equally between the old First Federal Savings and Loan and the institution that is now Farmers.

Ball grew up in DeQueen and first got to know a number of Hope folks while attending college at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.   “I had an older brother, three years older, and when he graduated at DeQueen, he went to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville…I got to go visit him a few times and liked that.  I also had a friend of mine I was graduating with and that’s where he wanted to go…both of us had brothers up there and we decided we were going to be room mates.  The first people we met were Bill Rowland from Fulton and Mike Pinegar from Washington,” says Ball.  He remembers visiting Hope one summer and making the “Loop” from the Dairy Diner to the Bobcat.  Ball also noted the intramural sports team he played on in college was called the “FGC”.  He recalls with a laugh it was much later he learned that stood for “Fulton Garden Club”.

After Ball graduated from the University, he worked for an oil company that had a pipeline.  He enjoyed working for that company in Tulsa, Oklahoma but balked when they wanted to send him to manage their office in East Chicago.  Says Ball, “I just wasn’t ready for East Chicago!”.  First Federal had a branch in DeQueen and through a friend there he learned they were going to put a branch in Hope.  Ball started with First Federal in 1978 and came to Hope in 1979.  After First Federal sold he went to First National Bank of Hope and that ultimately became Farmers.

Ball says he’s looking forward to taking care of his cows and also hopes to travel, especially to see his daughter in Denver and his 1 year old grandson.  About his time in banking in Hope Ball says, “It’s a blessing, it’s been a real joy.  It’s been a blessing to come to Hope and raise a family”.   He compares his career in Hope to making “a lifetime of friends”.