By Gordon L. McBride

 

INDEPENDENCE, MO—I became aware of Bill Esry sometime around Christmas ten to 15 years ago—and it was probably Christmas Eve—at the First Presbyterian Church in Independence.  Bill was acting as the liturgist that night at the annual Christmas Eve service that I had driven in from out of town with my children in tow to attend as a renewal of childhood ritual in that towering sanctuary.

 

And there he was, in front of what was a full sanctuary, typical for that event, retelling the Christmas story.  He made quite an impression; tall, balding and obviously glad to be doing what he was doing, though I had no idea who he was that evening.

 

Several months later our paths crossed again at a Missouri bankers association convention in Jefferson City.   This time we were standing in line waiting for lunch.  He turned out to be, as we waited in line to be served, everything he did not have to be: congenial, approachable and easy to talk to. 

 

It would be easy enough for the president of the largest bank in town to be aloof, distant, too busy to talk.  Not Bill Esry.

Of course, we had the mutual interest of the church to chat about.  That made things a lot easier.  We had both grown up there, though in different time spans.

 

This past week Esry surprised the city with the news that Blue Ridge Bank had been purchased by the First National Bank of Omaha. 

For Esry this had to have been a challenging decision.  He is heavily invested in Independence.  In addition to the First Presbyterian Church where he and his parents were in a lot of ways pillars of the community, Esry is also a devoted Boy Scout leader, traveling each summer for weeks on end to the H. Roe Bartel Scout Reservation in rural Southwestern Missouri.

 

While his family founded the bank in 1958, it is no longer a “family-owned” financial institution, Esry insists.  “We have over 200 shareholders” and over $850 million in assets.  I hope that I have never represented Blue Ridge Bank as a family-owned enterprise,” he said in a recent interview in his home.

 

Yet the bank has been his life, going back to six months of age when he attended the opening in 1958, unaware that that event was his future.

 

Esry will no longer be CEO of Blue Ridge, a title he acquired in 2002, but he will continue to be active in the management of the bank where he “started out in the mailroom straight out of Truman High School.”  He joined the staff full-time in 1980.  

 

The acquisition of Blue Ridge Bank and Trust by FNBO was closely preceded by the purchase of County Club Bank, a bank that Esry said that he has always felt was a great match for his bank.

 

Country Club has facilities throughout Kansas City, but they do not compete with Blue Ridge Bank.  Esry said that he has always felt they would make a great match.  With the Omaha bank’s decision to acquire Country Club, the decision to join forces with First National made a lot of sense.

 

“First National does the kind of banking that I love to do,” Esry said.  “Community involvement is what we live and breathe every day.”  FNBO is a sixth generation, family-owned, private bank “committed to staying that way,” Esry says with a large degree of satisfaction.

“I’m excited about the combination and what it offers our customers,” he said with his customary enthusiasm.     

 

Looking ahead to the benefits that he expects the new relationship to bring to Blue Ridge’s customers, Esry points to the 4,500 employees and $35 billion in assets that will enable Blue Ridge to extend to their customers, some of which are in need of financial support beyond which his bank can offer under its current ownership.

 

Blue Ridge Bank has eight locations that will join the FNBO network in the Kansas City metro, bringing the total to 40, making the group the fifth largest in Kansas City

 

“I am not leaving.  I am not retiring,” Esry said.  He said that he thinks of his grandfather who went to work on a Thursday and died on Monday.  That’s the kind of involvement he sees for himself.

 

He and his wife have two daughters and three grandchildren, all in nearby proximity.  A retreat to warmer climate is not in their game plan, though continued involvement in Scouting and the Independence community are. 

 

And to this day he continues to be the liturgist at First Presbyterian during the month of December.