Harry B. Brock, Jr.

Harry B. Brock, Jr. (March 31, 1925 – July 29, 2015) was an American banker and philanthropist.

Early life

Harry B. Brock, Jr. was born on March 31, 1925 in Fort Payne, Alabama.[1][2] He grew up in Gadsden, Alabama.[2] He graduated from the Tennessee Military Institute and served in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service during the Second World War from 1944 to 1946.[1][2] He then graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce and Business Administration in 1949.[1][2] In 1964, he earned a certificate from the American Institute of Banking.[2]

Career

Back in Gadsden, Brock first worked as a truck driver for the Brook-Martin Oil Company.[2] He later worked as a car salesman with John Thomas Motors of Gadsden.[2] In 1964, he co-founded the Central Bank and Trust Company (later known as Compass Bank, now as BBVA Compass).[1][3][4] In 1968, together with other investors, he gained voting control of the State National Bank of Alabama. In 1981, he merged the two banks.[1][2] By 1987, Central Bancshares of the South was the first bank in Alabama to own a bank in another state.[1] He retired from the Board of Directors in 1991.[1][4]

He served on the Board of Directors of Marathon Industries and the Daniel International Corporation (now merged with the Fluor Corporation).[2]

He served on the Board of the Alabama Alliance of Business and Industry.[2] He was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in 1983 and the Alabama Business Hall of Fame in 1993.[1][2][3] He also became an honoree of the Birmingham Business Hall of Fame in 1999.[5]

Philanthropy

Brock sat on the Board of Trustees of Samford University, where the Brock School of Business is named in his honor.[1][3][4] He has also served on the President's Cabinet at his alma mater, the University of Alabama.[1] He has served on the Board of the Southern Research Institute and the Gorgas Scholarship Foundation.[1][2] He has also volunteered for Kiwanis.[1]

Personal life and death

He married Jane in 1949, shortly after he graduated from college.[1][2] They have three children, Stanley M. Brock; Barrett Brock MacKay; and Harry B. Brock III.[2] Brock died on July 29, 2015.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Alabama Business Hall of Fame
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Alabama Academy of Honor
  3. 1 2 3 Samford University
  4. 1 2 3 Crystal Jarvis, Compass Bank founder Harry Brock shares some secrets to his success, Birmingham Business Journal, March 23, 2008
  5. ↑ Kiwanis Club of Birmingham
  6. ↑ Phillips, Ryan (July 30, 2015) Birmingham banking legend dies. Birmingham Business Journal
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