There are people in this world who are passionate about their community’s history and others who are fortunate — sometimes unknowingly — to have played a part in shaping that history.
Many former staff members from McAllen State Bank are a big part of the latter, who recently had the rare opportunity to reconnect and share their memories during a reunion organized by the McAllen Heritage Center.
Elva Cerda, Executive Director for the McAllen Heritage Center, was in the banking industry for 38 years before taking on her current role with the McAllen Heritage Center and worked at McAllen State Bank for 13 years.
“I am an alumnus of this bank. I worked there very early in my banking career, and it was extremely impactful on my career,” she said. “This was during a time when there were only a handful of banks in the Valley, but when the bank was closed, many of those who were there continued to have successful banking careers.”
Cerda said she began planning this reunion before the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. As a result, those plans were temporarily shelved and then launched again in 2024 to ensure everyone’s health and safety. With the assistance of Rio Bank President and CEO Ford Sasser and VP Irma Murray, a venue was secured, and their help was invaluable in making the event a reality.
On Jan. 25, 2025, more than 100 former bankers and their guests gathered at the Rio Bank event venue to celebrate the bank’s storied past and what it meant to McAllen and the Rio Grande Valley.
“It was really difficult to reach out to the people for a bank that closed in 1988, but it was important because this bank was a symbol of McAllen’s banking history, and it deserved to be remembered. It was really a very special event,” Cerda said.
McAllen State Bank was established in December 1945 and served the banking and community needs of McAllen residents until it failed and was acquired by Houston-based First City National Bank in 1988.
McAllen State Bank wasn’t just a place where young adults opened their first checking accounts, where young couples went to apply for their first home loan, or where families with graduating high school seniors went to apply for college loans.
To the McAllen community, it was an iconic place where school children took field trips and toured the building. Those children would often look through the windows, 17-stories up, to see the landscape of Reynosa, Mexico.
The bank was also the place where social events, such as quinceañeras or parties, were held. It was an institution that spoke to its community and its people.
Ernest Williams, who was the President and CEO at McAllen State Bank for many years, said seeing old friends and colleagues at the reunion brought back many wonderful memories.
“This far exceeded expectations of what I thought this would be like,” Williams said. “There were many there I had not seen in 40 years. It’s a long time not to see folks. This was better than a high school reunion. What a thrill it was to see these folks again.”
Of course, there’s nothing better than catching up with old friends, and many of those from long ago shared their personal recollections with everyone there, which made it a night to remember.
Williams said he was impressed with the turnout, the amount of work and preparation that went into making this fantastic reunion a success, and the stories that so many friends shared.
Of course, one of Williams’ favorite memories was the bank’s connection to McAllen and the Rio Grande Valley.
“This was a community-focused bank that set the standard for other banks in the area to follow,” he recalled.
Some of those causes included the local Boys and Girls Clubs, the United Way, the Salvation Army, and other causes related to education.
“The bank building was an iconic place that became the community’s economic hub, the political hub, and the cultural hub,” he said. “Back then, McAllen was like Mayberry – I am happy I was able to be part of such a wonderful institution.”
Joe Hettler, who started with the bank in 1974, was the chief operations officer when the bank closed.
Hettler, like Cerda, had fond memories of the bank’s impact on the local community and of the people he worked with for many years.
“There were many diamonds in the rough that were cut and polished there,” he said. “Many of them moved on to successful careers. I would venture to say that we served as a training ground for bankers.”
Hettler stayed in touch with many of those former colleagues who’d become dear friends after the bank closed its doors.
Seeing so many of his colleagues and old friends from McAllen State Bank felt like a family reunion, because for Hettler, that was just what it was.
“They were not just colleagues, they were family,” he said. “When you came to McAllen State Bank, you became part of that family.”
