Bryan bank executive proud of community

12/11/2001

BRYAN - Elvin M. Witzerman, 75, who rose through the ranks at Citizens National Bank here to the position of chief executive officer and president, died Saturday in the Dilworth Center, Montpelier.

Mr. Witzerman died of pulmonary fibrosis, said his wife of 53 years, Evelyn.

A graduate of Bryan High School, Mr. Witzerman served in the U.S. Army from 1944 until 1946, then attended Franklin College of Indiana, from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1948. With many returning war veterans seeking work, jobs were scarce in 1948, Mrs. Witzerman said. His father worked for Citizens and alerted his son to an opening in the bookkeeping department.

Mrs. Witzerman said her husband worked at various times in all departments of the bank, becoming its chief executive officer during the late 1960s. He added president to his title several years before retiring in 1987, she said.

Mr. Witzerman was one of a group of Bryan businessmen who actively promoted the community and its home-grown industries, Mrs. Witzerman said. He was a member and president of the Bryan Chamber of Commerce, was on the Community Hospital Board of Directors for 17 years, and was active in many civic organizations.

“He was really proud of this community and really loved it here,” she said.

After he retired, the Witzermans moved to a converted summer cottage on Torch Lake, near Alden, Mich. They returned to Bryan 11 years later after Mr. Witzerman's illness began advancing.

Mr. Witzerman is survived by his wife, Evelyn; sons, Robert, John, and James; brother, Allyn, and sister, LuAnn Winzeler.

Visitation will be after 2 p.m. today in the Oberlin-Ford Funeral Home, Bryan. A funeral service will begin at 11 a.m. tomorrow in First Presbyterian Church of Bryan. The family requests tributes to Community Hospitals of Williams County, the Bryan Area Foundation, or the church.