A long time employee of First National Bank passed away Thursday.

Nolan O’Neal Wise began his employment at First National Bank of Picayune in February of 1965 as a teller, said coworker Linda Penton.

He worked his way up to vice president of the bank. Prior to becoming the vice president, he worked in vault security and was an appraiser at the bank.

Penton described Wise as more than a coworker, he was also a friend.

“We could talk about our problems with each other,” Penton said. “That was always just our relationship,”

He was also popular with the customers.

“When you came through that back door everybody was looking for him to be sitting in that office back there,” Penton said.

His friendly nature also led him to help others in the bank, said Sheila Cooper.

First National Bank employee Deborah Randall said when she first started at the bank she got lost in the large building, but Wise was there to walk her to where she needed to go.

Coworker Terrie Lee said Wise was a good man that everyone loved and Suzan Wilson said he was a good friend she could always depend on.

Brian Adams and David Levy remember Wise as a man who was passionate about ensuring things were done right.

Sue Bounds said she worked with Wise for the past 40 years, and in that time she came to think of him as family.

Wise was also a man who knew the back roads of the county, and shared that knowledge with Stewart Huey.

First National Bank president David Hemeter said Wise’s friendship with many people in Pearl River County was an asset to the bank.

“He will be missed as a coworker, but more so as a friend to the entire First National Bank family,” Hemeter said.

According to his obituary Wise passed away on July 3, at the age of 69. Services will be held today at 2 p.m. at the Unity Baptist Church Cemetery.

Wise was a member of the Unity Baptist Church and was preceded in death by his parents, Artis and Juanita Wise, and a grandson, Landon Wise.

Survivors include Ruby Wise, his wife of 44 years, a son Al Wise and his wife, two grandsons, a sister, Arlene Langston, and his brother Yancy Wise and his wife.