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In celebration of the Wright City Chamber of Commerce’s 80th year, The Record is publishing a series of stories to highlight the local businesses that call Wright City home.

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Most parents want their life’s work to provide a lasting benefit for their children. Parents impart their wisdom from years of experience; those who are fortunate are able to leave an inheritance when they pass.Some parents bring their children into a family business so that when they retire, their children have a livelihood to carry on. For the Ruge family in Wright City, that business is a bank that has served the community for more than a century.FMB Bank, formerly known as Farmers and Merchants Bank, has been operated in Wright City by members of the Ruge family and their relatives since 1910.Bank President Kristin (Ruge) Beckmeyer said FMB was founded by three of her great-great-uncles in the Blattner and Diekroeger families, along with six other businessmen. Their nephew, Corwin S. Ruge Sr., came to work at FMB in 1917, and by the 1930s had worked his way up to be president of the bank.Since then, FMB Bank has been operated by three generations of the Ruge family. Beckmeyer and three of her four siblings currently serve as administrators.Family members have worked in every level of the bank’s operation. Siblings, cousins and children have all started out working as tellers and assistants.“It’s kind of a rite of passage,” commented Beckmeyer, whose two sons and niece work at FMB. A number of other employees also have had children grow up to work at the bank, she added.FMB HistoryWhen FMB got its start in the 1910s, the population of Wright City proper was fewer than 500 people. Corri Ruge, an FMB Vice President, said the bank started out with competition from several others in the area. But that changed in the late 1920s, when the Great Depression devastated banks across America.FMB was one of the few local banks to survive, Ruge said, and purchased the holdings of several other banks that went under during that time period. For many decades through the mid-20th century, FMB was the only bank in Wright City, Ruge said.She commented that their grandmother, Nellie Ruge (herself a former president), was proud to recall that FMB came through the Great Depression healthy enough to qualify for FDIC insurance in 1935, two years after the federal program was first established. Corwin Ruge Sr. was president at the time.Since those early years, FMB has built a long history in Wright City, including once being robbed of $21,800, Corri Ruge commented. Melinda Bruning, the woman who helped police catch the robbers by recalling their license plate, was afterward offered a job at the bank.In 1955 the bank moved from its original location on First Street to its current location at the corner of Second Street and Elm Street. Other expansions and remodels have come throughout the years. The bank abbreviated its name from Farmers and Merchants Bank to FMB in 2007.

Members of the Ruge family pose with photos of family members in the board room of FMB Bank in Wright City. The bank has been operated by four generations of their family. Standing, from left, are Trae Ruge, Patrick Beckmeyer, Corri Ruge, Kristin (Ruge) Beckmeyer, Owen Beckmeyer and Marcella (Ruge) Holiway. Other family members with the bank not pictured are Gere Ruge, Aimee Beaudet and Isobel Ruge.

Record photo/Adam RollinsCommunity bankAs generations of Ruges have operated the bank, they’ve built relationships with generations of customers and longtime employees. Corri Ruge said those deep connections are one of the defining qualities of their bank, and each of them still interacts with customers.“You’ll see Kristin doing computer and working the drive-thru just like everybody else,” she said.“I would hate to lose that,” Beckmeyer added. “I like feeling like we’re doing something that has a purpose, that it helps somebody. I love it if somebody is trying to buy a house and we can make that happen for them. I like it if a little kid comes in and he wants to put his $10 in someplace safe and feel really fancy.”There have been challenges to running an independent, small-town community bank. People are less likely to assume FMB has the same conveniences as banks with many branches, said Ruge. She said the bank has worked to keep its technology and programs up to date while staying focused on its services to customers and community.Working along with the Ruge family, some of the bank’s other employees have been at FMB for decades. Beckmeyer said the longest serving current employee, Mary Sue Sitton, has been with the bank 51 years as of Aug. 1. She started the same month as Beckmeyer’s father, Corwin Ruge Jr.FMB and its employees have long been active in the Wright City community. The bank was one of the founding members of the Wright City Chamber of Commerce in 1939, and is the only continuous member for the Chamber’s entire 80-year history.The bank also supports many organizations in the Wright City community and broader region, sponsoring or donating to more than two dozen organizations in just the past year, Beckmeyer said. Employees are encouraged to be individually involved with local churches, schools and other organizations.“It’s natural for those of us who live here, who have grown up here (to be involved),” said Corri Ruge. “It’s how everyone was raised. ... We really love Wright City. We try to have its best interests at heart.”Beckmeyer agreed. “It’s a legacy I think we all feel responsible for.”

FMB Bank President Kristin Beckmeyer, left, and Vice President Corri Ruge pose next to the bank’s original, century-old vault, on display in the lobby of the bank in downtown Wright City. On the wall is the bank’s original FDIC insurance certificate, granted after the bank survived the Great Depression. 

Record photo/Adam Rollins