Bank in Our Town Fairfax preparing to celebrate 100 years in 2024

FAIRFAX, Iowa (KCRG) - As Our Town Fairfax grows and looks towards its future, it’s also looking back. Fairfax State Savings Bank has been serving the community for nearly 100 years.

In that near century, the bank has only had three presidents - each long time Fairfax residents. That includes current president Patrick Slater. He started working there in 1991, after an internship in 1977. The bank has been on the same corner for all those 99 years, too. Now, there are locations in Amana and the Kingston Village. Slater says there is a simple motto that inspires how he leads.

“I just lost my dad last November, Dave was the second president and was here for 60 plus years, and he said stop counting after that,” said Slater. “He was here decades, and we still call it the bank that Dave built. He was just on the heels of John Krall, and they’re big shoes to fill. I don’t know if I can fill them, but I try to do the next right thing, which was a motto he lived by.”

Outside of the bank is a giant American flag. The 1,800 square foot flag flies 185 feet in the air. That’s the smaller of the two the bank has. The other is 3,200 feet. Slater says it’s another representation of the town’s patriotic pride.

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