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Roger Oswald

Education: 1967 graduate of Williamsburg High School; associate degree in electrical engineering technology from Penn State Altoona in 1969

Position: Retired agriculture loan officer for Hollidaysburg Trust Co. and Omega Bank

Family: Wife, Norma, a first-grade teacher at Williamsburg Elementary School; son, Ben, 32, a process engineer for the Federal Correctional Institute in Mount Union; daughter, Nicole, 30, a physical therapist at Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg, Va.

Roger Oswald was never one to seek the spotlight.

However, the Williamsburg man will be in the spotlight Tuesday evening when honored with the Blair County Agricultural Community Excellence Award at the annual Farm-City Dinner at The Park at Morrisons Cove in Martinsburg.

Oswald, 60, said he was shocked to win the award.

"I still don't think I am deserving of it; there are other people more deserving. I guess someone saw something that is kind of flattering," Oswald said. "This kind of recognition is not something I am used to. That is why I am not comfortable with it."

The ACE Award was started as a continuation and expansion of the Blair County Chamber's successful Farm Family of the Year Award, initiated in 1970.

In addition to farm families, the ACE Award also allows nominations of agriculturally oriented individuals, agribusinesses and nonprofit organizations. The award is an chamber effort to recognize all facets that make agriculture a primary industry in the county.

Oswald, whose family moved to a farm in the Williamsburg area from Streetsboro, Ohio, in 1964, did not plan a career as a farmer.

"While going to Penn State, I got up at 3 a.m. to feed cows and do chores. I learned then I didn't want to be a dairy farmer. That experience provided me with a healthy respect for farmers and dairy farmers in particular," he said.

The 1967 Williamsburg High School graduate, who received an associate's degree in electrical engineering technology from Penn State Altoona in 1969, had planned a career in electronics.

After working at several other jobs, he found employment at Hollidaysburg Trust Co. in 1970.

Oswald moved into Hollidaysburg Trust's commercial loan department in 1984 and became the agriculture loan officer for the bank - where he loaned money to farmers to acquire farms or assets or expand their operations or to replace equipment - a position he held until his retirement in June 2008.

That is where he made his mark with the agricultural community.

He said he enjoyed interacting with farmers.

"There was a rare loan request or closing that occurred in my office. I did the background work in the office - the nuts and bolts of seeing what the customer wanted. My goal was to make it good for the customer and the bank. The closings all occurred on the farm. That was part of what I loved about the job," Oswald said.

Oswald counts John Dean, who was on the board of directors of Hollidaysburg Trust when the ag loan department was started, as one of his mentors.

"He took me under his wing. I had a couple of great mentors who were invaluable to me. The other was Dave Hileman in Sinking Valley," Oswald said. "Both were successful farmers. Both of them were in positions of influence with the bank. Over the years, they allowed me to gain credibility."

Oswald said his parents, Marcus and Martha, and others had a great influence on his career.

"My parents taught me early on to work hard and [that] if you do anything less than your best, it is dishonest. Another was Dick Scholton, my boss for 15 years. He was great to work for. The senior management and board of Hollidaysburg Trust and Omega Bank were very supportive. Without their support, I would not have had a chance to do anything at all. You didn't have to be very smart to be an ag lender, and I am living proof of that," Oswald said. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for my customer base and truly enjoyed working with the customers I had."

David D. Cadle Jr., manager of the Williamsburg branch of First National Bank (formerly Hollidaysburg Trust and then Omega Bank), worked with Oswald for more than 30 years. He said his friend is well-deserving of the ACE Award.

"He was so well respected in the agriculture community. He was absolutely the best at what he did. He developed the [ag loan] department with John Dean from ground zero and built it up," Cadle said. "If they had a Hall of Fame for ag lenders, he would be in it."

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.