My grandfather, Roland John Tapper, was born in Hammond, Lake, Indiana, on August 1, 1909, to Anton H. Tapper and Louise L. Normann. He was their fourth child and third son.

Anton H. Tapper was a serial entrepreneur with many business interests, but he concentrated most of his time and energy on real estate and, later, banking. Grandpa, like his siblings, worked in the family business.

Shortly after 11:00 a.m. on 3 October 1968, two men armed with guns entered the Calumet Federal Savings and Loan Association. Roland, the president, was in the building along with the teller, Mildred Hill, and his son, Roland Tapper Jr., treasurer.

Pushing Mildred from her stool, one of the gunmen began to rummage through two cash drawers. The gunmen then forced the three to a back room, where they were told to lie down. Wallets were taken from the pockets of the Tapper men before the robbers cut the phone lines and fled out the front door. 

At the time of The Hammond Times article, Roland Tapper Sr. did not know precisely how much money had been taken in the holdup. He stated that the firm started each morning with $2,200 in cash in the two drawers, but he did not know how many transactions had been made that morning.¹

The next day, the paper published a follow-up story stating that the robbers had taken $1,914.00 from the cash drawers and $90.00 from “the bank president,” Roland Tapper. The police were still searching for the robbers, described as being in their mid-twenties. One was short and dark, the other tall with light hair and a southern accent. Both men used foul language. A red 1961 Pontiac was seen parked in an alley near the savings and loan around the time of the holdup. A man who appeared to be in his 40s was sitting behind the wheel. At the time the paper went to print, the police had no leads.

In the article, Roland Sr. stated that the savings and loan had no alarm system, although federal law would soon require them to install one. “Tapper Sr. said he prefers to wait until the federal requirements are spelled out before installing a system.”²

This was the 32nd robbery of an Indiana financial institution in 1968; the FBI 19 “considered solved” to have been solved. The year prior, there were 33 robberies in total.³ 

Friday, November 8, 1968, the FBI arrested Theodore James Franiak, age 22, and charged him with the robbery of $1,914 from the Calumet Federal Savings and Loan Association. There was no mention of his accomplices.⁴

At the time of the robbery, Grandpa was 59 years old. Uncle Rollie was 34. Sometime before the robbery, Grandma had given him a 1909 $5.00 Gold piece attached to a money clip for Christmas. It was in his pocket on this day. He was in the habit of carrying most of his cash secured in the money clip in his front pocket. He would put the money clip in his pocket, then a smaller amount of cash closer to the opening. Oh, how I envy the pockets in men’s trousers. So when the gunman searched his pockets while he was lying face down on the ground, he easily discovered the $90.00 that was in his pocket; we can assume he did not search my grandfather’s pocket any deeper, content to take the ready cash, and never imagining that there would be more further inside. Sometime after this, he took the coin off the money clip and gave it to my Grandma for Christmas as a pendant. 

I can only imagine my grandmother’s fear when she heard the news that day in 1968. It had only been four years since the last robbery, which occurred on 26 Oct 1964. Grandpa was not at the Savings and Loan at the time of this robbery; his nephew, the firm’s vice-president/secretary, Clarence “Butch” Tapper, was there, as was his son, Roland. 

During this armed robbery, a lone gunman, well-dressed and about 45 years old, entered the building and demanded money. Butch gave him $611 from the drawer of the first teller’s cage. The gunman stated, “I know you’ve got more than that,” so he was given $898 from another drawer. He then said to Butch and Uncle Rollie: “Get in the vault or I’ll blow you to bits.” They walked into the “standup vault at the end of the office area, and the gunman slammed the door shut“ before he walked out the front door of the savings and loan. When they heard the door close, Butch and Uncle Rollie were able to open the vault by an inside lever and call the police.⁵ I found no report that this lone robber had been apprehended. 

Roland retired in 1973, remaining as Chairman of the Board until March 1974, at age 64. He had a long career with Calumet Federal Savings and Loan Association. He was elected to the board of directors in 1934, became assistant secretary-treasurer in 1937, secretary-treasurer in 1949, president in 1957, and chairman of the board in 1971. He passed away on 11 Nov 1981, at age 72. His grandson is now the owner of the 1909 $5.00 gold piece.

RESOURCES:

1. “2 Bandits Rob S&L,” The Hammond Times, 3 Oct 1968, Thursday, p. 1B, col. 1; digital images, NewspaperARCHIVE (www.newspaperarchive.com : accessed 2 Feb 2006). ↩︎
2. “Police Seek 2 Robbers,” The Hammond Times, 4 Oct 1968, Friday, p. 1B, col. 2; digital images, NewspaperARCHIVE (www.newspaperarchive.com : accessed 28 Apr 2004). ↩︎
3. “Robbers Get $2,200 Cash in Hammond,” The  Palladium-Item and Sun-Telegram, 4 Oct 1968, Friday, p. 27, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com: accessed 1 Apr 2024). ↩︎
4. “Arrest Made,” The Terre Haute Tribune, 9 Nov 1986, Saturday, p. 14, col. 2; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com: accessed 1 Apr 2024). ↩︎
5. “Bandit Gets $1,509 At Savings-Loan,”The Hammond Times” 26 Oct 1964, Monday, p. 1, col. 6; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com: accessed 31 Mar 2024). ↩︎