Heather Brolick
SPARTA, Mich.,—ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc., and ChoiceOne Bank has announced the retirements of Heather Brolick, EVP Human Resources Officer; Lee Braford, SVP Chief Credit Officer; Shelly Childers, SVP Chief Information Officer; Steven DeVolder, SVP Senior Trust Officer and Robert Michel, SVP Operations Officer.
“It is with sincere appreciation that we announce the retirements of Heather, Lee, Shelly, Steven and Bob,” said ChoiceOne CEO Kelly Potes. “We will miss their outstanding leadership and invaluable contributions. We wish them a long and healthy retirement with their families.”
Lee Bradford
Heather Brolick retires after 43 years of leadership in banking. She helped organize de novo Community Shores Bank in 1998 including the role of President & CEO and Director until the bank’s merger with ChoiceOne, after which Brolick took on the position of ChoiceOne SVP Human Resources.
She was an Award Honoree in the 2021 Crain’s Detroit Business Notable Women in Banking.
Lee Braford retires having served ChoiceOne for 40 years. He returned to ChoiceOne Bank as a Vice President, Commercial Loan Officer in 2001. He previously served over 17 years in various other lending capacities with ChoiceOne. Since then, he was promoted to SVP, Chief Credit Officer where he oversaw the vast credit portfolio of ChoiceOne Bank.
Shelly Childers
Shelly Childers retires having served ChoiceOne for 40 years. She began her career with the Bank in 1985. Childers was promoted to Vice President and Director of Information Technology in 2008, Chief Information Officer in 2016 and to her recent position as Senior Vice President since 2010.
Steve Devolder
Steven DeVolder retires after holding his position as SVP and Senior Trust Officer with ChoiceOne since 2019. DeVolder began his career in 2018 as a Vice President and Trust Officer of Lakestone Bank & Trust until the bank’s merger with ChoiceOne. Prior to Lakestone, DeVolder was employed by a national bank as a Vice President, Trust Officer for 15 years in Southeast Michigan.
Robert Michel
Robert Michel joined ChoiceOne in 2016 as Vice President, Operations and retires with 37 years of banking experience with various banks from multi-state regional banks to community banks. He was promoted to SVP in 2023. Serving ChoiceOne for nine years, Michel oversaw and directed multiple teams within the overall Operations Department.