28 BRIEFLY IN KANSAS BANKING Continued from page 27 Richard (Dick) A. Renfro 50 Year Club Award Dick began his 50-year banking career in April 1971 at National Bank of America (NBA) in Salina as Vice President and Commercial Loan Officer. He then progressed to the position of President of NBA and then President and CEO of the merged UMB National Bank of America. He also served on the UMB Financial Corporation Executive Committee and Board of Directors, retiring in August of 2001. Upon retirement, he was elected as Vice Chairman of the Board and was a consultant to UMB NBA through 2012. He then began service on UMB’s Salina Advisory Board of Directors. In addition to his long career at UMB NBA, he also served on the Board of Directors of Farmers State Bank McPherson until his death in November 2021. His long-esteemed career was founded on his high school education at Hutchinson High School, BS in Business from Kansas State University, Stonier Graduate School of Banking (Rutgers University) and the National Commercial Lending Graduate School, University of Oklahoma. Dick’s love of banking and community was a valued part of his life. After a short battle with cancer, Dick leaves his wife Toni, sons Craig, Cary and Clark (Amber) and his beloved granddaughters Addison, Mallory and Claire to remember a devoted family man, proud K-State alum, community advocate and a leader in the banking community. Farmers State Bank Begins New Century Farmers State Bank in Dwight, KS, celebrated 101 years of business in January. With the bank’s founders pursuing the idea of a bank in 1920, the bank opened on Jan. 13, 1921. Bank officers were C.W. Johnson, president; O.J. Flack, vice president; H.R. Johnson, cashier; and E.T. Beck, assistant cashier. It has remained in the same location on the south side of Main Street for all 101 years. Robert “Bob” Oleen, who has now passed, was just 19 years old in 1938 when he approached Mr. Beck at the bank for a job. Bob offered to work there for free for a month to demonstrate his seriousness to the duty. He was hired and, for the next 76 years, continued to work and excel at the bank until he passed in August of 2014. Bob Oleen’s son, Jan R. Oleen, a 1962 Dwight High School graduate, returned to Dwight in 1971 after serving in the military to help at the family bank. Jan Oleen is the current Chairman of the Board and President & CEO of the bank. The Bank has weathered society’s tough economic times. Before the Oleen’s involvement, the bank withstood the economic crash of 1929, followed by the Great Depression in the 1930s. Jan Oleen recalls the challenging times of the late 1970s and early 1980s when the bank’s clients, many of whom are in agriculture, found themselves facing interest rates of 17-18% when real estate ownership changed. Doug Wareham, KBA President and CEO, presented the posthumous award for Dick Renfro to his son, Clark Renfro, President of Exchange Bank, Salina Pictured: KBA President & CEO Doug Wareham with Dick Renfro’s family, son Cary Renfro and wife Toni, son Clark Renfro and wife Amber, and son Craig Renfro
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