[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 97 (Wednesday, June 7, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E779-E780]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN RECOGNITION OF MR. LAMAR BALL

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL C. BURGESS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 7, 2017

  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of former 
First State Bank executive, Lamar Ball, who passed away on March 26, 
2017. Mr. Ball was known for his commitment to his family and his 
leadership in the Denton banking community. He was a skilled visionary 
who saved First State Bank from potential closure immediately after 
assuming the role of chairman and CEO in October 1989.
  A Tennessee native, Mr. Ball graduated from the University of 
Tennessee in Knoxville in 1962. Long before he led First State Bank, 
Mr. Ball began his working life measuring cotton crops straight out of 
college. After a full year of such work, he decided he needed a change. 
The only requirement for his next job, according to his daughter 
Allison, was that it be indoors, so Mr. Ball accepted a banking job in 
Atlanta and embarked on a banking career that would endure more than 30 
years.
  To Mr. Ball, his legacy was important. According to his son David, 
``His legacy was not the material things he gained; his legacy was his 
children and grandchildren, and he made sure [they] knew that.'' Mr. 
Ball was an accomplished and influential banker, but more importantly, 
he was a loving and dedicated parent and grandparent. He will be 
greatly missed. I include in the Record an article that appeared in The 
Denton Record-Chronicle.

      Lamar Ball, Former Exec at First State Bank, Dies at Age 76

                      (Jenna Duncan, Staff Writer)

       Lamar Ball, a devoted father, grandfather and a staple in 
     the Denton banking community, died Sunday after a battle with 
     myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood disorder that can lead to 
     cancer. He was 76.
       Ball was known in Denton for saving First State Bank. He 
     started in October 1989 as chairman and CEO and quickly 
     stopped the bank from losing money and facing closure. He 
     brought in investor Carl Pohlad, who at the time owned the 
     major league baseball team Minnesota Twins, and rebuilt the 
     company, former colleagues said.
       ``His mission was to raise capital to quite frankly save 
     the bank and he did, so in my mind he saved First State Bank 
     of Texas,'' said Bill Bonds, who served as chief financial 
     officer under Ball. ``He was a visionary. He told me one time 
     that he loved to create worth. His greatest skill was finding 
     or taking something that was broken and turning it into 
     something valuable.''
       The Tennessee native graduated from the University of 
     Tennessee in Knoxville in 1962 and immediately got a job 
     measuring cotton crops. His daughter, Allison Bertorelli, 
     said his only specifications for what he wanted in his first 
     job was that it would be indoors.
       The next year, Ball switched to banking with a job in 
     Atlanta and continued in the industry for more than 30 years.

[[Page E780]]

       One phrase he took to heart and would often repeat was, ``I 
     might not be the smartest guy in the room, but I work harder 
     than anyone in the room,'' said Glenn Monroe, a family friend 
     turned colleague at First State in Denton. He was a fan of 6 
     a.m. meetings and didn't like doing check-ins with employees 
     on a regular basis. A lot of times, Ball was also the 
     smartest man in the room, Monroe said.
       ``You won't meet too many bankers at the executive level 
     who are willing to make decisions and live with them,'' 
     Monroe said. ``He was willing to listen to all of the 
     information, listen to your input, and he'd make a decision. 
     That would be it. If the decision wasn't the greatest one, he 
     never came back on anyone else.''
       A main reason Ball was able to build capital at First State 
     was through acquiring smaller community banks in the area, 
     then helping make them more profitable. By the time he left 
     in the late 1990s, the bank had more than quadrupled its 
     assets.
       From there, he went on to invest and lead Smart Start, a 
     company that creates alcohol detection technology for cars, 
     and invested in other companies.
       He worked a lot of late nights, his children said, but he 
     made sure he could always coach a sports team for one of five 
     children and never missed a game, Bertorelli said. He also 
     loved the phrase ``Heck of a deal'' whenever one of his kids 
     came to him with a tale of success.
       Later in life, he continued that dedication to family with 
     his 11 grandchildren. Each photo of him with one of 
     grandchildren reveals a large, toothy grin with Ball's ears 
     sticking out, his son, David Ball, said.
       ``His legacy was a big deal to him,'' David Ball said. 
     ``His legacy was not the material things he gained; his 
     legacy was his children and grandchildren, and he made sure 
     we knew that.''
       Ball is survived by his wife, Barbara Ball, his five 
     children, a stepchild and 11 grandchildren. Visitation will 
     be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Bill DeBerry Funeral 
     Directors, 2025 W. University Drive.
       Funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Andrew 
     Presbyterian Church, 300 W. Oak St. in Denton.

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