Lion of the Week

Francie Whittemore

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Francie Whittemore, one of our newest members, is Lion of the Week for the week of tbe 21st of November.

Francie was born and reared in Memphis. Her father and mother ran a sundry store, which is like a drug store but without a prescription drug component. Her father died in 1967, after which her mother sold the store. Her maiden name was Hemmer and her father of full German descent. But her mother was a full blooded first generation Italian.

She is a graduate of Sacred Heart, an all girls Catholic School. She attended Memphis State (now the University of Memphis) for a year. The next year she started her banking career with Memphis Bank and Trust. She worked for them for 11 years.

She married a Memphis State football player and came to Franklin. She went to work at the Williamson County Bank. They had two sons, Gabe and Benji. Both her sons graduated from MTSU. Gabe is a commercial banker for First Tennessee. Benji manages the Davy Crockett Road House in Murfreesboro. Gabe is married, but so far, no grandchildren. She says she has a "grand cat."

Francie worked for all the successive banks that bought Williamson County Bank, and actually did not leave that job until the year 2002, when she went to work for the Cumberland Bank. Francie is now the Assistant Vice President for Cumberland Bank. She is the manager of the Public Square office. She works there with other Lions, Jody Bowman, Helen Watkins, and Al Gregory. She has furthered her education by attending many courses in banking put on by the American Institute of Banking (AIB), of which she is a member.

Her number one hobby is listening to music. She also enjoys reading and specially shopping. She says that she can shop for long hours without actually purchasing anything. She says most people think that shoppers are big spenders. She believes the opposite is true. Most serious shoppers are also smart shoppers.

Al Gregory brought Francie into Lions earlier this year. She is still learning her way around on Lion projects. For Franklin on the Fourth she helped with the hospitality room sponsored by Cumberland Bank. She feels that the hospitality room was a great success and enjoyed working there that day. She is looking forward to the Lions Pride Breakfast. Francie has worn glasses most of her life.. She believes that the project for the collection of glasses may be an area where she could focus her Lions service.

Francie is a good addition to the Lions Club and we look forward to working with her on Lions Club projects. As a club, we specially value our connections to Cumberland Bank, one of the Lions Club's most valued sponsors.