Wanda Ellis is one of those quiet people who go about their jobs every day without any fanfare. She is the vice president/ senior retail lender at TrustMark Bank where she has worked since since 1995.

“I enjoy my work,” Ellis said. “We have a good group working at the bank. We know we can depend on the other employees and the management to stand behind us in our day to day job.”

Ellis began her association with TrustMark in 1995 when the bank was known as First National Bank, one of the oldest in the area. She served eight years as a loan processor, becoming the credit manager in 2003 for the next five years. She became the vice president/lender in 2013, retail banker and in 2016, she was named senior retail banker.

For the layman this means she works with home construction loans, mortgage loans, some consumer loans and signature loans. She even handles some commercial loans.

“I am pleased to be working at TrustMart,” she said. “They keep up with the latest in banking. They are also good to all of us.”

Ellis was born and raised in Brewton for the most part. Her father was in construction so the family moved around a lot. When she was living here, she attended W.S. Neal High School and graduated from there in 1978. She was the oldest of five children.

“I got married almost out of high school,” she said. “I went to school with Ralph “Rusty” Ellis Jr. and we were married in 1979.

“I worked at K-Mart for a short time and then at Judy Bond for 15 years before I started working at TrustMart,” she added. Rusty and I had two daughters and now we have five grandchildren.”

Her daughter Hale Ball married Jordan Ball and they have two children, Jebb (4) and Nellie (3). Heather Edwards, her other daughter, married Jared Jared Edwards and they have Madison (16), Bentley (11) and Colt (9).

Ellis said she doesn’t have a lot of time to spend on other things, but she and her husband love to travel as often as possible. She is a member of the Kiwanis Club, and a board member of United Fund and Habitat for Humanity.

As part of her training for banking, she attended the University of Alabama Banking School.