By CLAYTON PARK

Evelyn Jones will take over as the new manager of the Lake City branch of Frontier Bank at the beginning of January, succeeding Ed Hodgins, who is retiring from full-time duty.

Hodgins, 62, is a longtime Lake City banker who came out of retirement in 1996 to head up Frontier's new Lake City branch.

His latest "retirement" is actually his third: his first came in the early '70s when he retired as a Major in the U.S. Marine Corps, following a distinguished 21 year military career that included serving in the Vietnam War and stints in Lebanon and Cuba. His second retirement came in 1996 when he retired as manager of the Lake City branch of Key Bank, after 22 years in banking - all of it in Lake City, albeit under different banks, starting with the old Commercial Bank of Seattle, the Lake City-based community bank started by the late Bill Pierre Sr., which was later renamed the Bank of Seattle. That bank was bought out in 1986 by Puget Sound Bank, which in turn was bought out by Key Bank.

He was lured out of his second retirement after only a few months by Frontier Bank, which offered him the opportunity to once again work for a community bank by starting up Frontier's Lake City branch. Naturally, he promptly recruited many of his longtime employees who had stayed with him over the years in Lake City, despite the numerous changes in company names and owners.

This time looks to be Hodgins' "final" retirement, although one can never be certain with him. He isn't exactly going away, though. He will continue to work part-time for Frontier, in his new title as vice president and business development officer. "I'll be attending Lake City Rotary and Lake City Chamber of Commerce meetings and meeting with customers at their request," says Hodgins,.who will be acting as Frontier's "ambassador in the Lake City community."

Hodgins notes that he will also be looking forward to spending more time with his wife, Mary Lou, and their grandkids, as well as playing golf and "doodling around the house." He and his wife live in the nearby Maple Leaf neighborhood.

Jones is already well known to many in the community, having rejoined Hodgins & Co. in August 1997, after having spent more than 10 years working with them previously as part of the Bank of Seattle/Puget Sound Bank/Key Bank crew in Lake City.

She is a Seattle native who grew up in the Central District, graduated from Garfield High School in 1962 and went on to attend Seattle University where she studied art, with aspirations of becoming a fashion designer.

While attending college, she began working part-time for Seafirst Bank, starting out in the bank card department before being promoted to bank teller. She enjoyed the work so much that she decided to make banking her career. She later moved to Los Angeles where she took a job with Bank of America and eventually become a commercial loan officer.

She and her husband Harold, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Bain, moved back to Seattle in the late '70s, deciding that it was a better place to raise their children. She went to work for Rainier Bank as a commercial loan officer and switched to Commercial Bank of Seattle in 1981 when her branch manager at Rainier, Dean Hubbard, took the job as president of the Lake City-based bank.

In 1991, she left the Lake City branch to become manager of Key Bank's North City branch in Shoreline. Prior to joining Frontier last year, she served as manager of Key Bank's Totem Lake branch in Kirkland from 1996 to 1997.

Jones has been active in the Lake City community since her return to the neighborhood. She has been a volunteer in a number of activities and groups including last year's Spring Fling community clean-up event, Pioneer Days and the Lake City Chamber's membership drive.

She and her husband are Kirkland residents. They have three grown children and four grandchildren.

RETIREMENT PARTY, DEC. 30: On Wednesday, Dec. 30, Frontier Bank's Lake City branch will host an open house/retirement party for Ed Hodgins who will be on hand to "thank the customers for coming to Frontier." The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Refreshments will be served. The bank is located at 2825 NE 125th Street.