Pub. 17 2020 Issue 3

Issue 3 • 2020 5 O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S — H E L P I N G N E W M E X I C O R E A L I Z E D R E A M S remembers still feeling very poor even when Don began making a decent wage because all of their money went to bank stock loan payments. This turned out to be a great decision because Don later became the majority shareholder of many of the Kipp-Rich banks when Jack Rich eventually declared bank- ruptcy. Don always credited his success to Mr. Rich because of the opportuni- ties that Mr. Rich gave him. Western Commerce Bank was always Don’s pride and joy. When Don took over, the bank had $14 million in as- sets. At his death, the bank was worth nearly $600 million. Under Don’s lead- ership, the bank earned an ROE of 20% or more for over 30 years. Don always said his goal was to earn the same as a bank twice as big, regardless of his banks’ size. One of Don’s proudest accomplish- ments was being appointed to the Board of Regents at New Mexico State University, where he was the first and only high school dropout to serve as a regent. He served as a regent for six- years and considered it to be one of the best learning experiences of his life. In 1992, Don became a Republican State Senator for District 34 in a narrow election that had been a Democratic stronghold for many years. He served in the New Mexico Legislature for 12 years, where his list of accomplishments was impressive. Don’s most memorable accomplishments included co-spon- soring the Lottery Scholarship that has provided well over 100k in college scholarships to young men and women across the state, and co-authoring New Mexico’s law to protect citizens from predatory lending. Don always said, “It is amazing what you can accomplish when you aren’t concerned with who gets the credit for it.” Don was known for reaching across the aisle to work on important bills for all New Mexicans. Some of Don’s closest, life-long friends were his democratic colleagues. Don has served on countless other boards, committees, professional orga- nizations, associations, etc. His accom- plishments in the public sector are too numerous to list. However, I should mention that he served as the New Mexico Banker’s Association President from 1990-1991. During his tenure as president, a familiar man named John Anderson applied for the position of executive vice president. After the board voted, Don told John jokingly, “Well, John, it was between you and the secretary, and you barely pulled it off by a 5-4 vote!” Don always had an inferiority com- plex as a high school dropout. Because of this, he spent nearly all of his free time reading. Don kept every book he ever read and eventually had to build his own library that now has thou- sands of books on every subject you can imagine. Don was so grateful that he could read and attributed reading to much of his success. He was truly a self-educated man. This is why literacy and education were his main passions. He did not believe in giving anyone anything other than education and op- portunity. He would often say, “I don’t believe in luck.” and, “Luck (success) is where opportunity meets preparation.” He also said, “If you have the ability to read and comprehend, you can pre- pare yourself to take advantage of any opportunity that might come your way, regardless of your social or financial status.” He used to say that there is no excuse not to educate yourself. The lo- cal library provides books for free and anything you ever wanted to know is in a book somewhere. He would laugh and say that he grew up so poor his Momma had to get the Bible from the library. Over his lifetime, Don gave millions of dollars to charity. Most of the time, he requested that his donations remain confidential. He did not want recogni - tion because, as he would always say, “Recognition is not the reason you donate.” When he would be recognized, he dreaded it. The only donations he gave where he did not mind acknowl- edgment had to do with literacy and education. Some of these donations were to establish the Don and Sarrah Kidd Scholarship Fund and a Chair in Literacy at NMSU. His work and donations in educa- tion came full circle when he received an honorary doctorate from NMSU in 2006 and gave the commencement speech at my college graduation. He even handed me my bachelor’s degree on stage. One part of his speech that I will never forget is when he said, “A college degree is not a vaccination against ignorance,” and “Learning is a lifelong endeavor.” In 2017, he received the NMSU Presidential Medallion. On the more intimate side, as a man, my Grandfather was a complicated individual. Even though he was very generous, he was also very shrewd and, at times, very hardened. Anyone who has ever worked closely with him would tell you that he was a great boss and a great teacher, but he could be incredi- bly difficult to work for at times. He ex - pected his employees to have the same dedication and work ethic as he did. He was an old-school, no-nonsense type of individual. However, he did have a cunning, dry sense of humor. He was well known for his West Texas sayings, some of which could be inappropriate at times. He could use a one-liner to change the tone of very stressful situa- tions. Those who knew him will tell you that even though he would be joking, there was a lesson he wanted you to learn from the joke. My Grandfather’s genius was his uncanny common sense, ability to think outside the box and his deep understanding of human nature. He could take very complicated subjects or situations and simplify them in one or two sentences. My Grandfather was also ahead of his time in advancing women in the workforce. Today, numerous women leaders across New Mexico and beyond hold very influential and important positions both in the private sector and in government. For example, 90% of the employees at Western Commerce Bank are women, and Western Bank of Clovis is 99% run by women. When my Grandfather was close to death, he told me that he had read somewhere, “ ‘As you go through life, you should leave tracks,’ and I hope I was able to leave some tracks.” After his death, my family and I received hun- dreds and hundreds of letters, emails and phone calls from people across the state and across the nation that had at some point in their lives been taught, helped or influenced by him. To say the least, it was very touching and hum- bling to hear the countless stories of how my Grandfather impacted all of their lives in some way. Granddad, you definitely left tracks! n