BANGOR – Claude O’Donnell would be the perfect actor for one of his bank’s commercials on planning for retirement.

He could be sitting next to Diane, his wife of 33 years, on the porch of his summer camp on Creek Pond in East Orland. Both could be holding hands as they gaze at the peaceful waters, assured they are financially set for their golden years.

O’Donnell says he can see himself living the retirement life soon for he has notified personal friends and business associates that he will be leaving his position as regional president of Fleet Bank-Maine on Nov. 9.

But the actual process of personally coming to terms with retirement has not been as easy as saying it’s time to quit working and go camping.

It’s not like that at all, O’Donnell would tell just about anyone who knows him, and that group is quite extensive. There is a hesitancy that replaces the confidence that comes from managing a multimillion-dollar financial institution.

“When you make a decision like this, there’s a certain fear factor,” O’Donnell said. “Any intellectual person would wonder what the future holds. If I stay here, I know what my day brings. The apprehension comes from … I can’t tell them I’m a president, that I’m running a big bank. It’s just me.”

O’Donnell is retiring 10 years earlier than most people would, at age 55. It’s his choice. He cites personal reasons without being specific, but stresses they are not health-related. He’s feeling fine.

Personal reasons, to him, are just that, personal. After years of working with businesses and listening to their stories about the risks they took and the growth they’ve achieved, he wants to do the same thing for himself – take a few risks and grow more as a person.

“I want to discover certain parts of myself before I get older,” O’Donnell said. “What you do is part of who you are. There are those other parts that need to be explored in order to live a life that’s complete.

“There’s a thing about retirement that’s a really bad connotation,” O’Donnell continued. “It’s kind of like you’re not really doing something of value. You’re not contributing something. We really should eliminate that word. It should be I’ve stopped doing and started being.”

Over the years, O’Donnell has been instrumental in helping startup businesses acquire financing to begin operation. He’s also made Fleet Bank the dominant credit lender of many of the state’s largest corporations.

In the more than three decades O’Donnell has been in banking, he’s witnessed the industry transform from being primarily a depositor and lender to being a complete financial, money-management institution.

Competition is strong among banks for customers and their money, and making investments for clients is a big part of that. To stay in business, and to remain competitive with other banks, the financial institutions need to make healthy profits to attract capital, he said. But applying too many fees on customer transactions could send those customers to other banks.

“In a competitive environment, if the fees are excessive, you’re going to lose the business,” he said.

Besides being a bank executive, O’Donnell has served on the boards of Eastern Maine Healthcare, Acadia Hospital, Susan Curtis Foundation, Action Committee of 50, YMCA Foundation, Bangor YMCA, Bangor Halfway House, Wellspring Inc., Northern Partnership, and the Lawyers Client Protection Foundation.

Since word began circulating about his retirement plans, O’Donnell said he has received numerous letters and telephone calls from people who have told him that they appreciate what he has done for them.

“It’s touched me,” said O’Donnell of the correspondence. “It’s been really, really nice.”

He said he’s never thought of himself as a person who has given so much to others.

Sometime in the future, O’Donnell said he might consider taking a new job. But for now, he intends to dabble in arts and music and travel throughout the country.

And the father of two grown children, Josh and Kate, probably will worry for a short time whether he made the right decision to retire early.

He believes eventually he’ll convince himself of that.

“I need to trust not only my intellect … but I also need to trust my intuition,” O’Donnell said. “My intuition is saying this is a really good time to be doing this.”