Lucille McDowell was born in Grinnell on October 19, 1910. A1928 graduate of Grinnell High School, she attended business college in Quincy, Illinois. In 1937 she married Dick Potts. She began her banking career in 1929 as a bookkeeper at Citizen's National Bank (later Poweshiek County National Bank and then Wells Fargo). She retired in 1975 at which time she was an officer and board member.