Bank executive worked way up from clerk post
4/30/2010Sandy K. Schmollinger, 55, a KeyBank senior vice president whose 36-year banking career began with a clerical job at the former Toledo Trust Co., died of cancer Tuesday at Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township.
Early on at Toledo Trust, she was told that she needed more than a high school education to advance, her husband, Mark, said.
"Her approach to things was to say, 'What do I need to do?' She was extremely intelligent, but she had a real drive," her husband said. "She wanted to keep moving up and moving forward. She knew in her heart she could become an executive in the banking industry. She was a natural leader."
Night classes at the University of Toledo's community and technical college yielded an associate's degree. She received a bachelor of science degree in finance from UT in 1986.
In 1994, she was promoted to assistant vice president of what was then Society National Bank. The next year, she was named a vice president. She later became vice president of global treasury management. In March, 2004, she became a senior vice president of what is now KeyBank.
Mrs. Schmollinger, of West Toledo, made sure her employees had the training they needed to advance, said Charla Akerman, who worked with her 31 years ago and for her the last 13 years. She encouraged everyone to save money through the office coupon exchange. When she became ill, she spoke with a bank human resources official to make sure her team had access to counseling, if needed, after her death.
"She thought of her employees first," Mrs. Akerman said. "She thought of us all the way to the end."
She was born Aug. 12, 1954, to Mary and Alexander "Corky" Korcsog. She was a 1972 graduate of Whitmer High School.
She and her husband met in July, 1982, while both were at the UT track for an evening run.
"I thought from the beginning she might be the one," said her husband, who is a former city attorney and a former Lucas County Common Pleas judge. They married Oct. 11, 1986.
She was a member of St. Clement Church.
Surviving are her husband, Mark; sister, Becky Middaugh, and brothers, Daniel Korcsog and Ron Korsog.
Memorial services will be at 1 p.m. tomorrow in H.H. Birkenkamp Funeral Home, where the family will receive friends after noon.
The family suggests tributes to Hospice of Northwest Ohio.