Hometown Bank Holds On To Founder's Values

By John Singleton

North Arundel Savings Bank does not feature online banking. They do not sell loans to third parties. And they never offered those no-documentation sub-prime loans that rocked the US financial system.

“We’ve never made money hand-over-fist, but today we don’t have the loan losses some of the larger banks are having,” said Micky Thomas, President and CEO of North Arundel Savings Bank. “We’ve kept our loans in-house and have always had a very conservative underwriting philosophy.”

Like the community it serves, North Arundel Savings Bank has cut against the grain since its inception. Founded in 1956 by a group of maverick Pasadena businessmen who saw the need for a local bank to serve local needs, North Arundel Savings Bank remains independent and local with a five-star rating from industry analysts.

“We really know our lending area. We know Pasadena and Lake Shore,” added Thomas. “When there are bumps in the economy we can help our clients with loan modifications and accommodations. We understand the local market both economically and real estate-wise.”

This very unique bank was founded on the vision of a businessman named Hugh Holmes, who passed away this past May 16. Holmes graduated from Glen Burnie High School in 1936 and the University of Baltimore Law School in 1944, but this local product surely was not your typical stuffy banker. His hobbies included restoring antique cars and writing poetry. Who else but a Pasadena native could come up with a poetry verse like this?

“Old Father Hubbard

Went to the cupboard,

To get his razor a hone.

By the time he got there,

His whiskers were hair,

So now all he needs is a comb!”

“Hugh Holmes was an extremely sincere man who gave a first impression of formality, but he had a fun-loving side and he truly loved this bank,” added Thomas, an Anne Arundel County resident. “If there was a loose screw or a leaky faucet at the bank, Hugh would take care of it personally if he could.”

Holmes’ death, along with that of longtime board member Dr. Randall McLaughlin in the spring of 2011, dealt a double blow to North Arundel Savings Bank. Like Holmes, McLaughlin served in the US Military as a young man and remained active in the Catholic Church for his adult life. Dr. McLaughlin spent five decades practicing medicine in Pasadena where he clocked countless volunteer hours with Bello Machre and the Lake Shore Rotary Club.

“I’m not sure they make them like these guys anymore,” added Thomas. “Both Dr. McLaughlin and Hugh Holmes made great contributions to the bank and an enormous impact on the quality of life in Pasadena.”

With the founding of Pasadena’s oldest financial institution where every depositor gets a vote on how the bank is run, the imprint of these men carries on to the present day. But Hugh Holmes was never indisposed to revealing his playful side. In 1998 he published a book of verse called “Rhymes by an Ancient Barrister” where he wrote poetry on lawyering, garden pests, and neighborliness always with a nod, a wink, and a smile.

Curious thing about furry moles,

They dwell in subterranean holes.

I wish they’d pack and leave my premises

And be, instead some neighbor’s nemesis!