A penny saved is a penny earned -- no matter how old. Image:scmikeburton/Flickr/CC BY-ND

June Gregg was given a 100th birthday party Thursday — not by family or friends, but by her bank. The Huntington Bank branch in Chillicothe, Ohio, was grateful for Gregg’s loyalty. She has kept the same savings account since 1913.

Before World War I

June Gregg’s nearly century old bank account came to the bank’s attention when Gregg mentioned to a friend that she has the same account that her father opened for her before World War I. That friend informed the bank manager, Doug Shoemaker, who checked into records and learned that it was true. In all that time, the account number had only changed once, when the Huntington Bank acquired what had previously been called the Chillcothe Savings Bank in the early 1980s.

Gregg said her father, Gilbert, a wheat farmer,  began the account in 1913, when she was a year and a half old. The original deposit was $6.11. He had wanted his daughter to learn the value of thrift and saving, and it seems the lesson took.

Stay out of debt!

“That’s what he always taught us: to stay out of debt and save our money and not buy anything until we had the money to pay for it,” said Gregg to the press. “I don’t have many wants.”

Gregg never married and has no children. In 1932 she opened a store and later worked for the post office. She worked there for more than 25 years and retired in 1976.

Loyalty ‘takes the cake’

Although some customers have kept their accounts for 30 0r 40 years, according to Shoemaker, when it comes to loyalty, “June takes the cake.” Gregg claims she never even thought about changing banks; she likes the institution.

A gift of interest

As a gift, the bank raised her interest rate to about 5 percent for the next 100 days. That is about 5 times the normal rate.

Sources

MSNBC

Huffington Post

WTHR