The Beginning
The West Side Building Loan and Savings Association was founded on October 20, 1904 by a group of prominent businessman including August Rosenberger, Edmund L. Craig, George W. Varner, E. G. Heeger, J. C. Stark, H. H. Ogden, H. F. Reichman, Leon Currey, George W. Koch, Ben J. Nurrenbern, W. H. Grammer, Christian Ziss, Frank Lohoff, Jacob L. Thuman, John C. Miller, Jacob Folz, and Theo Gorke. The bank’s mission was to provide safe and profitable investment of savings, to make loans for its members, and otherwise carry out the objects of a building and loan association. Pictured below is a group of construction workers building what will later become the first branch which still operates as a banking center today.
Leadership and Visionaries
Discover the faces that have driven our bank’s mission forward throughout the years.
August Rosenberger, Sr.
1904-1909
August Rosenberger, Sr. was born December 19, 1848, in Neurode, Silesia, a province of the former German Empire. He traveled to the United States in 1859 with his family. He started a small grocery business in 1872 in Evansville, IN in the former Gerst Haus building on Franklin Street. In 1885, Mr. Rosenberger and his wife purchased a broom manufacturing company named The Southwestern Broom Manufacturing Company [The Broom Corn Review – May 8, 1931]. In November of 1904, one month after our incorporation, Rosenberger was elected the first President of the West Side Building Loan and Savings Association, later to become First Federal Savings Bank.
He served as President for five years until November of 1909 when he moved to Wichita, Kansas to pursue other business ventures. August Rosenberger died on May 9, 1931, at 82 years old.
Frank Lohoff, Sr.
1909-1924
Frank Lohoff was born in 1848 in Germany. In 1858, at just 10 years of age, he traveled to America. Upon arriving, Lohoff started work in a furniture factory in Evansville, IN where he worked for six years. He then began work at the stock yards as yard master for five years. Shortly thereafter, he began a career as a policeman. In 1887, Mr. Lohoff organized the Shulte-Lohoff Company alongside business partner Charles Shulte. The company was reorganized 10 years later as Evansville Tool Works where Mr. Lohoff worked as stockholder and President.
In November of 1909, Frank Lohoff was elected the second President of West Side Building Loan and Savings Association, succeeding August Rosenberger. He served as President for 15 years until he died on July 4, 1924.
Joseph R. Kuhlman
1924-1932
Joseph R. Kuhlman, born in 1847, was a prominent resident of Evansville’s west side. He served as Treasurer of St. Boniface Church and was previously the General Manager at August Rosenberger’s Southwestern Broom Manufacturing company.
Kuhlman was on the West Side Building Loan and Savings Association’s executive committee since 1909 and was elected President in July of 1924 where he remained until his death in May of 1932, serving eight years.
George Koch
1932-1961
George W. Koch was born in Evansville, IN on March 22, 1877. He graduated from Centennial Elementary School and the old Evansville High School. At 20, he worked with business partner Elijah Williams to manufacture and install pumps and windmills and served as Deputy Comptroller of the city in 1901 for four years. In 1904, during the incorporation of George Koch Sons, he assumed the office of Vice President where he served for six decades. George Koch was very involved in the Evansville and Santa Claus Chambers of Commerce, Germania Mannerchor, and was one of the originators of the West Side Nut Club, even serving as its President in 1922.
In July of 1932, George Koch was elected President of West Side Building Loan and Savings Association, succeeding J.R. Kuhlman. He served until 1961, a total of 29 years. George Koch died on March 13, 1968, at 90 years old.
Curtis F. Stinson
1962-1974
Curtis F. Stinson was a native of Enfield, Illinois but resided in Evansville since 1904. He graduated from Central High School and was a past President of the West Side Nut Club. After serving in World War I, he joined the West Side Building Loan and Savings Association in 1935 as Secretary Treasurer and kept this position after the company was chartered in 1935 and renamed First Federal Savings and Loan. He was active in the Burdette Park Development and was a member of the Evansville Board of Realtors.
Curtis Stinson was elected President in 1962 and served for 12 years until his death at 78 years old on August 23, 1974.
John F. Stinson
1974-1975
John F. Stinson was elected President on January 17, 1974, succeeding his father Curtis Stinson who transitioned to Board Chairman. John Stinson had been Executive Vice President with First Federal for 27 years.
John announced his resignation one year later in 1975 to devote more time to his interest in land development in the Barkley Lake area. Stinson died February 13, 1997 at 69 years old.
Robert L. Clayton
1975-1990
Robert L. Clayton was a graduate of Memorial High School and a Navy veteran. He was a member of the West Side Nut Club, serving in all offices including President in 1964. He also served as President of the Savings and Loan League of Evansville.
Clayton was elected President of First Federal Savings Bank in January of 1975 after serving formerly as Executive Vice President. He had been with the Bank since 1952. He served as President from 1975-1990, a total of 15 years. Clayton died February 26, 2000 at 70 years old.
Harold Duncan
1990-2000
Harold Duncan joined our Bank as a Loan Officer in 1964. He was promoted to Assistant Vice President in 1968, Vice President and Treasurer in 1974, and to Executive Vice President in 1981. He also held the position of President of FFSL Service Corp., a subsidiary of First Federal. He was appointed President of First Federal Savings Bank in January of 1990. He served as President until 2000 and CEO until 2004, totaling 14 years when he retired but continued as Chairman of the board and as Director of the company and bank.
Michael H. Head
2000-Present
Michael H. Head began his career with our Bank in 1980 and has served in a variety of capacities. He was appointed President in 2000 and Chief Executive Officer in 2004. Head earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Indiana and then an MBA in Finance from the University of Evansville.
He has served in the community as a board member of the University of Southern Indiana (USI) Foundation, Deaconess Health System and Habitat for Humanity of Evansville. Head serves on the advisory board of the USI Romain School of Business, the Evansville Regional Economic Development, the West Side Professional and Business Association, and as a former Treasurer of the St. Mary’s Medical Center Foundation board.
On the professional side, Head has served on the Indiana Bankers Association Board of Directors from 2012 to 2020, served as Chairman of the IBA in 2016, served on the national board of the Independent Community Bankers of America as Indiana’s delegate from 2016 to 2022, and previously served on the Community Bank Advisory Council of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
