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For Richard Taylor, Surety Bank has never simply been a place to bank. It has been part of his family and his community for generations.
His grandfather, Dr. Harold Taylor, served on Surety’s board and became president during a challenging period in the institution’s early history. His father later served as Surety’s attorney and on its Board of Directors. Richard’s own relationship with the bank began when he was a child.
“My earliest memory was at 110 North Florida,” Richard recalls. He believes that as soon as he was old enough to walk into Surety, he was bringing in a dime to start an account.
After leaving the Marine Corps in 1977, Richard eventually continued the family tradition by joining Surety’s Board of Directors himself.
His story provides a unique window into Surety Bank’s first 100 years and the principles that have allowed a local institution to continue serving its community through generations of change.
Surety was formed in 1926 as a mutual building and loan association, owned by its depositors and borrowers rather than traditional shareholders.
It wasn’t long before the young institution faced a major test.
Florida’s real estate boom collapsed before the Great Depression spread across the country. Richard grew up hearing stories about the banks around DeLand that failed during those difficult years. Surety, however, kept its doors open.
Richard believes the reason came down to the way Surety treated people.
“The reason it didn’t fold is because of two reasons. One, it was able to reason with the depositors and, two, because it acted reasonably with the borrowers.”
Instead of immediately turning to foreclosure when borrowers struggled, Richard says Surety did everything it could to work with them. At the same time, its leaders worked to maintain the confidence of depositors. That careful, personal approach helped Surety navigate one of the most difficult periods in American financial history without shutting down.
The story may be nearly a century old, but the philosophy behind it feels familiar: know the people you serve and be willing to work with them when it matters.
When Richard later joined the board, that personal knowledge of customers and the community was still an important part of how Surety operated.
He remembers sitting alongside directors who seemed to know the history behind nearly every property and family that came before them. When the bank considered making a loan, board members could personally visit the property, research comparable sales, and bring their own knowledge of the local market into the conversation.
For customers, it meant decisions were being made by people who understood the community.
“If you had a problem, you had somebody that you could go sit down across a desk and then talk to them about it.”
That ability to have a real conversation with the people behind your bank is something Richard remembers as an important part of Surety’s contribution to the community.
A lot has changed since those early days.
Richard remembers when customers carried physical books that recorded their payments and Surety used a large hand-operated calculating machine to figure interest. Today, technology has transformed nearly every part of the banking experience.
Surety has evolved with the industry. What began primarily as a building and loan association focused on residential homes has grown into a bank serving businesses and developing expertise in specialized areas of banking.
Richard describes that evolution as cautious, and that distinction is important.
Surety has continued to change without losing sight of what made it successful in the first place.
That perspective fits naturally with Surety Bank’s centennial message: “How we’ve always done it is how we’ll always do it.”
In many organizations, “how we’ve always done it” can imply a resistance to change. Surety’s history tells a different story. The tools have changed. The services have expanded. The way customers interact with their bank has evolved.
But the commitment to being thoughtful about how the bank grows and remaining connected to the people it serves has endured.
After all the changes Richard has witnessed, one characteristic stands out when he talks about what makes Surety different today.
“We are truly a local bank.”
For Richard, there is a difference between being called a community bank and actually being part of the community.
Surety’s roots are here. Its history is here. And generations of the people behind the bank have lived and worked alongside the customers they serve.
Richard describes Surety not only as a community bank, but as a community institution.
That connection has carried Surety through enormous changes in banking and in the community itself. Richard remembers a time when Surety did not need much advertising because local people already knew where to go when they needed a reliable place to borrow or deposit their money. Decades later, customers have more banking options than ever, but Surety continues to move steadily forward without chasing every passing trend.
Richard has seen Surety Bank move from passbooks and hand-operated calculators to modern banking. He has watched the institution expand beyond its original focus while continuing to take a careful approach to growth.
And when asked whether a bank that has already been here for 100 years can make it another 100, Richard sees no reason why it can’t.
That confidence comes from knowing where Surety has been.
For a century, the bank has adapted when necessary while holding onto the qualities that have carried it through generations: local roots, thoughtful decisions, and a commitment to the people it serves.
Richard Taylor’s family has been part of that story for generations, and his memories offer a rare look at just how much has changed since 1926.
They also show how much hasn’t.
That is the legacy of Surety Bank.
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