Brenda Harding

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Surrey Bank & Trust will host an open house in recognition of Brenda Harding, who recently retired as the bank’s senior vice president and chief operations officer, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday at the historic William Alfred Moore House, 311 Moore Ave., in Mount Airy.

Harding joined the bank just before its opening in 1996 and, for the past 16 years, has been responsible for the bank’s operations, branch administration, human resources, policy and compliance areas, as well as serving as corporate secretary.

Friends, customers and shareholders are invited to join bank directors and employees in recognizing Harding’s years of service to Surrey Bank and to the banking industry in North Carolina.

“Her retirement ends a banking career that’s spanned almost 50 years,” said Ted Ashby, Surrey Bank president and CEO. “She was instrumental in building our bank and prior to that, she made significant contributions to other North Carolina banks.”

Harding worked at the Commercial Bank in Spartanburg, S.C., prior to her marriage and subsequent move to Pilot Mountain. In 1963, she joined the Bank of Pilot Mountain. As her career advanced, the bank went through a series of mergers. When the bank eventually became Centura Bank, Harding was a regional branch administrator, with responsibility for several branches.

Harding is active in the Pilot Mountain Civic Club, which named her Citizen of the Year for 2012. She also serves on the Pilot Knob Park Country Club Board of Directors, where she is treasurer, chair of the finance committee and a member of the PKP Ladies Golf Association. She is also a member of First Baptist Church of Pilot Mountain, where she chairs the finance committee and sings in the choir.

Harding and her husband, Earl, are the parents of three children, Stephanie Coe, Suzette Jessup and Sam Harding. They have four grandchildren, Tara Coe, who also works for Surrey Bank; Kaylie Jessup, a student at Pilot Mountain Middle School; Daniel Harding, 4; and Garrett Harding, 2.