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When John Yancey first pulled into Maryville back in October of 1972, one of the more memorable community fixtures was the "Big Pump" that stood prominently near the intersection of South Main and Lincoln streets.
The young man from St. Joseph had his degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and had completed his military service during the time when the United States had its highest number of troops deployed in a place called Vietnam.
But he had decided that a job with an up-and-coming St. Louis outfit known then as Edward D. Jones & Co. held more appeal than continuing his military career, so he took a job from financial icon Ted Jones and became the 82nd field office representative placed by the company that currently boasts more than 10,000 offices in the United States and Canada.
Now, more than 39 and a half years later, he will retire Friday as the No. 6 man in seniority among an international sales force that numbers more than 12,000 financial advisors.
And John Yancey is an iconic community fixture.
"When I came here, there were no New York Stock Exchange member companies, only a lot of 800 numbers in the telephone book," Yancey said as he relaxed somewhat in the East Fourth Street office where his name will remain on the door as a "consultant" for at least the next year.
"When I started in Maryville, the Dow had just crossed 1,000 for the second time and that was really on people's minds," he remembered. With an index that is around 12,500 today, and had bumped even higher before 2008, "it's been quite an experience."
Yancey has seen three 40 percent dips in the market since his inauguration into the business in the early 70s, but the changes in technology strike him as strongly as those index ups and downs.
"When I started, 100,000 shares traded a day was big," he said. "Now the volumes are over a billion shares a day."
As Jimmy Buffett so aptly puts it:
"It's those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
"Nothing remains quite the same
"With all of our running, and all of our cunning
"If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane."
Technology has made the greatest difference in his world, according to Yancey.
"We had a teletype to communicate with the home office, and I remember the first computer. I thought, 'I'll never learn this. I wanted the teletype back,'" he said.
When John Yancey first pulled into Maryville back in October of 1972, one of the more memorable community fixtures was the "Big Pump" that stood prominently near the intersection of South Main and Lincoln streets.
The young man from St. Joseph had his degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and had completed his military service during the time when the United States had its highest number of troops deployed in a place called Vietnam.
But he had decided that a job with an up-and-coming St. Louis outfit known then as Edward D. Jones & Co. held more appeal than continuing his military career, so he took a job from financial icon Ted Jones and became the 82nd field office representative placed by the company that currently boasts more than 10,000 offices in the United States and Canada.
Now, more than 39 and a half years later, he will retire Friday as the No. 6 man in seniority among an international sales force that numbers more than 12,000 financial advisors.
And John Yancey is an iconic community fixture.
"When I came here, there were no New York Stock Exchange member companies, only a lot of 800 numbers in the telephone book," Yancey said as he relaxed somewhat in the East Fourth Street office where his name will remain on the door as a "consultant" for at least the next year.
"When I started in Maryville, the Dow had just crossed 1,000 for the second time and that was really on people's minds," he remembered. With an index that is around 12,500 today, and had bumped even higher before 2008, "it's been quite an experience."
Yancey has seen three 40 percent dips in the market since his inauguration into the business in the early 70s, but the changes in technology strike him as strongly as those index ups and downs.
"When I started, 100,000 shares traded a day was big," he said. "Now the volumes are over a billion shares a day."
As Jimmy Buffett so aptly puts it:
"It's those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
"Nothing remains quite the same
"With all of our running, and all of our cunning
"If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane."
Technology has made the greatest difference in his world, according to Yancey.
"We had a teletype to communicate with the home office, and I remember the first computer. I thought, 'I'll never learn this. I wanted the teletype back,'" he said.
Buffett again:
"If it suddenly ended tomorrow
"I could somehow adjust to the fall
"Good times, and riches, and son-xx-x-xxxxxxx
"I've seen more than I can recall"
"I believed Maryville could provide a good future and I went in with two goals," Yancey said.
"Obviously, I wanted to establish a successful business, and I have been able to do that through the patronage of our clients. I am thankful for their confidence.
"And second, I wanted to offer the best personal service I could," he said. "This business boils down to not only who offers advice, but the best personalized service."
Yancey is quick to attribute much of the personal service his office has provided to Judy West, who has served as office administrator for 23 years.
From a time when "investing was buying a CD" to the present financial horizon crowded with multiple investment choices, Yancey is comfortable with the business base he has been able to establish.
"The individual investor in Maryville, Nodaway County, is very conservative," he said. "Farmers take risks every day, but as investors, our clients for the most part remain very, very conservative."
That same degree of stability holds true for the community where Yancey and his wife of 43 years, Susan, a loyal University of Kansas alumna, raised their family, and plan to remain. Both daughters, Melissa and Kristen, live in Olathe, Kan.
"I am grateful to have had my career here in Maryville," he said. "It is a great place to be in business and to raise a family.
"I'd say Maryville has progressed, certainly, but it has not changed a great deal," he said.
Jimmy Buffett once more:
"I took off for a weekend ...
"Just to try and recall ...
"All of the faces, and all of the places
"Wonderin' where they all disappeared"
Yancey plans to spend additional time at the family's Lake of the Ozarks condominium without severing Maryville ties. In his time, he has provided leadership for his church, the Maryville Rotary Club, St. Francis Hospital, the Maryville Country Club, and been a loyal booster of Northwest Missouri State University and its athletic programs.
J.R. Kurz, who has been associated with Yancey since shortly after the economic downturn of 2008, will succeed him in the front office of the oldest of Maryville's three Jones offices.
"I have learned an awful lot from John," Kurz said last week. "Heck, he's been in the business longer than I've been alive.
"I've benefitted from our association, it's been invaluable," Kurz said. "And I can tell you one more thing. John Yancey's loyalty to Edward Jones and to his clients in unmatched."
Doug Padgitt, a second generation financial advisor, and newcomer Jeff VonBehren manage other Jones offices in Maryville.
