Bank of O’Fallon has been serving the community since 1959

Bank of O’Fallon is a locally owned and operated commercial bank that has been serving the O’Fallon community since its opening in 1959.

Bank of O’Fallon has been named this year’s Community Service Award winner and will be honored at the 41st Annual Salute to Business Awards, put on by the O’Fallon-Shiloh Chamber of Commerce and the O’Fallon Progress. The award is sponsored by the Rotary clubs in O’Fallon.

For the last 58 years, the bank has serviced the deposit and lending needs of the local community. Throughout the years, the bank has financed the construction and purchase of many homes and commercial banking needs of the local population.

Richard J. Thoman, president of Bank of O’Fallon, stated that by its very nature a community bank, such as Bank of O’Fallon, is successful only if it effectively services the local community.

Thoman said he feels it has always been a competitive advantage for the bank that it is locally owned and managed by directors and officers who are part of the local community. Many of the directors and officers of the bank have roots in the local community and are very active in various aspects of the community whether it be charities, church groups, service organizations or other non-profit entities. This allows the bank to monitor the pulse of the community and help meet its financial needs, Thoman said.

Richard, along with his two brothers, Russell Jr. and James, who are also longtime directors of the bank, said in a joint statement that Bank of O’Fallon has been blessed to operate in a growing and vibrate community, such as O’Fallon. In turn, they said, the bank’s board of directors feels a sense of duty and responsibility to give back to the community and help promote its future vitality.

“Our future as a local community bank is directly linked to the prosperity of the community. We are proud of our team of directors, officers and employees — past and present — and their commitment to the local community. Their integration in the community and service thereof has been a key asset to us as a community bank. It has resulted in an inter-connected web of personal relationships that, when aggregated together, constitute a community bank that is serving a community about which it truly cares,” the statement said.

The bank has been particularly involved in promoting youth activities in O’Fallon through its financial support of various programs such as the O’Fallon School District District 90 Early Childhood Endowment Fund and various sports programs at the schools. The bank has also been supportive of the YMCA “Partner with Youth” program and various youth spots programs in the community at large.

The bank also supports both the St. Vincent De Paul Society, which serves those in need locally; HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the annual Relay for Life event, sponsored by the American Cancer Society; various events sponsored by Fontebella, a local home that provides assistance to unwed, expecting mothers; and the O’Fallon Knights of Columbus, which in turn, is very supportive of many charities in the area.

This story was originally published April 18, 2017 at 7:56 PM with the headline "Bank of O’Fallon has been serving the community since 1959."