Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 11, 1994 TAG: 9412140016
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Justin came into the lives of Plymale and his wife, Sarah, through the new concept allowing adoption by people in their 40s.
They met the young mother before birth, went with her for the sonogram that showed she was carrying a boy and reached the hospital in time to feed Justin his first bottle.
"Christmas takes on a new meaning," said Plymale about first-time fatherhood of a 14-month-old when he is 47.
Even fatherhood has not diminished Plymale's enthusiasm for the civic work that he said is his and the company's way of paying back the community.
He's been active in the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, a vice president at Total Action Against Poverty, and board chairman of Virginia Western Community College and Credit Marketing & Management Association. He's been on the board of Mill Mountain Zoo, United Way, Junior Achievement, the Roanoke County School Board Foundation and Good Samaritan Hospice.
A 1965 graduate of Northside High School in Roanoke County and of Virginia Commonwealth University, Plymale went through Signet Bank's management training program and worked three years for a Roanoke mortgage company.
He joined Central Fidelity in 1981 as its Richmond Region's mortgage product manager. He was promoted to statewide residential mortgage sales manager before returning to Roanoke in 1984 to build Central Fidelity's Southwestern region.
J. Carson Quarles, his predecessor as regional president, called Plymale "an outstanding banker. He's one of the best retail bankers in Virginia," having built a branch system in the region from virtually scratch.
Quarles said Plymale is a strong motivator and manager of people, getting a great deal of productivity from people who work with him. "People love to work for him," Quarles said.
He described Plymale as a "top-notch quality person," a loving father and a solid citizen. The most pleasurable of his banking years, Quarles said, were the eight he spent working with Plymale.
Douglas Waters, regional executive officer for NationsBank in Roanoke, said he had little contact with Plymale as a banker but worked with him on civic projects. "He's played a good role in them," Waters said of those projects.
"As a public citizen, I think he's represented them well," Waters said.
by CNB