GAMBIER – Steve Mullendore recently retired after nearly 30 years on the board of directors of The Peoples Bank of Gambier.
Steve was born the youngest of eight children in Hagerstown, Md., growing up on a dairy farm. After high school, he attended the Culinary Institute of America, at that time located in New Haven, Conn. Culinary students interned in the kitchens of various local colleges.
Steve was assigned to Southern Connecticut State College in West Haven where his future wife, Jeanne, was a student and a part-time waitress for the evening meals. They actually met over the garbage disposal ... and the rest, as they say, is history
After culinary school, Steve became the food service manager at Salem College in West Virginia for a year before joining the Army. He served two years in Vietnam, mostly handling rations for the 1st Division.
In 1968, Steve and Jeanne were married and he joined Saga Food Service of Menlo Park, Calif. His first assignment was Earlham College in Indiana; his second was Kenyon College.
He was with Saga for 10 years, going on to operate 17 different college food services as a district manager in three states. Steve utilized these management skills when, in 1979, he decided to change careers and became a Realtor, opening his own business and obtaining his broker’s license in 1982 and later becoming a top Realtor in Knox County. In 1995, Steve affiliated with Coldwell Banker Quest Real Estate. In 2006, he sold the company but remained the company’s broker until 2012. He is still active in real estate, not only in selling, but also in owner financing properties and as a partner in constructing houses in Apple Valley.
Steve has been active in the community through the Chamber of Commerce, Area Development Foundation, the American Heart Association and the First Congregational UCC Church. He is past president of the local board of Realtors, served on the Board of Mound Builders Mental Health Association and has served as chairman of the board of Peoples Bank of Gambier.
Steve has lived with his wife, Jeanne, on Baker Road in Gambier since 1976. They have two grown children: Gretchen, a director at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.; and Seth, who will, in January, become the CEO and president of the nonprofit Energy Group based in Montpelier, Vt. Seth and his wife, Anna, are parents to Isaac, now 4½ years old, a much-loved grandson.
Some of the traveling that Steve and Jeanne have enjoyed (before COVID) has taken them to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Steve also enjoys collecting American antique clocks, playing the stock market and using his culinary skills to cook at home and for friends.
