West Texas bankers inducted into Texas Bankers Hall of Fame
Three bankers with West Texas connections have been inducted into the Texas Bankers Hall of Fame for their positive achievements and contributions.
The honorees will be inducted at the 10th Texas Bankers Hall of Fame Gala on April 27, 2023 at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. The honorees include:
Kenneth L. Burgess, Jr.
Ron Butler.
James D. Goudge.
J. Pat Parsons.
The late David R. Seim.
Burgess, a 1978 Texas Tech graduate, started working for the original First National Bank until 1983. He became an executive vice president of Texas National Bank of Waco and spent five years as president of Security State Bank in Abilene. When that bank sold, he returned to form First National Bank of Midland, which later became FirstCapital Bank of Texas.
His contributions include testifying before the House Financial Institutions Committee in 2013 about the "detrimental effects of the Dodd Frank Act" in 2013. He testified again in 2017 to the same committee "regarding the need to improve the regulatory environment to ease the ability for people and communities to start new community banks."
For his local community impacts, he has been a member and chair of the Midland and Abilene United Way boards of directors. He was also chair of the Midland Economic Development Council and founding chair of the RAWLS College of Business Advisory Board at Texas Tech University.
Butler is chairman and CEO of First Financial Bank, N.A. Abilene Region, and executive vice president and chief administrative officer of First Financial Bankshares, Inc. He has degrees from Texas Tech, Tarleton State and graduated from the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking. He was previously the CEO of First Financial Bank in Eastland and Stephenville.
His community impacts include:
Former board chair of Abilene Industrial Foundation, Abilene Chamber of Commerce, ContinueCare Hospital at Hendrick Medical Center and the Abilene Improvement Corporation.
Serves on: Advisory Council of the Excellence in Banking program at the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University, and the Advisory Council of the Rawls College of Business.
Former director: West Central Texas Municipal Water District and Texas Bankers Association.
Goudge started his career with the National Bank of Commerce in 1976, moved to Kelly Field National Bank and later to Allied American Bank. He retired as chairman of the Broadway Bank board in 2019, three years after he retired from the CEO position. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin in 1976, and graduated from the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking in 1985.
His community impacts include:
Chairman: Texas Bankers Association; Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and Pathway to a Great City Committee; co-chairman of the Leadership San Antonio Class XXIII; KLRN Public Television;
Board member: San Antonio Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and Federal Advisory Council representative for the 11th Federal Reserve District; Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas board; UTSA Development.
Member: American Bankers Association Government Relations committee; Board of Trustees United Way of San Antonio; executive committee member of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation; Board of Trustees member of Southwest Research Institute.
Currently serving: chair of Snack Pak 4 Kids, San Antonio and on the University of Texas Chancellor's Council Executive Committee.
Parsons received degrees from Lamar University and the University of Houston. He started his banking career in 1973 with First City National Bank of Houston. With First City, he worked as a general manager for the London Branch, a department manager in the energy division, and as the Beaumont president and COO. He moved to Community Bank & Trust as president and COO in 1992, and stayed on as regional president when it became Texas State Bank.
When TSB sold to BBVA, he resigned and started CommunityBank of Texas, where he was the founding CEO and board chairman. He is currently serving as director and vice chairman of the bank, which will be named Stellar Bank after the recent Allegiance and Vista Bank mergers.
Seim, who died in 2018, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame posthumously. He was born in Corpus Christi, raised in Lubbock, and attended Texas Tech University. In 1968, he and his wife welcomed their first child. With a growing family, he left his position as a shoe salesman at JC Penney and joined CIT Loans.
His banking career took him from Plains National Bank, later Plains Capital, in Lubbock, to Amarillo's American National Bank, before returning to Lubbock. He retired, but returned to banking as the Lubbock Market Chairman for Happy State Bank.
He served as:
Chairman of the Independent Bankers Association of Texas.
Director of the Independent Community Bankers Association of America.
Board member of The Independent Bankers Bank in Dallas, and chairman in 1995.
Chairman of the board of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at SMU.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: West Texas bankers inducted into Texas Bankers Hall of Fame
