Submitted
John V. Anderson, chairmen of the board of F&M Bank in nine Oklahoma locations, has been named an inductee of the Oklahoma Bankers Association Hall of Fame for 2019. The award will be presented Thursday, December 5th at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City.
Anderson has been Chairman Emeritus/Director of F&M Bank in Edmond since 2017.
Anderson graduated from Choctaw High School in 1945 and with the help of his father, went directly to the recruiting station and enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 17.
After serving in the Navy in WWII and participating in “Operation Magic Carpet,” he returned to an economy still suffering from the lingering malaise of the Great Depression of the 30s. Anderson began his 72-year banking career when he joined Liberty National Bank and Trust as a messenger and one of 15 additional bookkeepers, mostly other vets. With a committed work ethic, and engaged with mentors and banking legends like Morrison Tucker, he began advancing his way up the corporate ladder to the Correspondent Department, servicing customer banks in the areas of audit, operations, and credit.
Taking advantage of the G.I. Bill, he began attending night classes at Oklahoma City University. Anderson holds graduate certificates for AIB in commercial Banking and Investments, as well as designation by the Bank Administration Institute of Chartered Bank Auditor in 1970. He is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Anderson also served as past President and board chairman of American Heritage Bank, El Reno. In 1972 he purchased Farmers and Merchants Bank in Crescent, and in 1973 he became president of First National Bank of El Reno, launching a chain of ventures that now numbers nine banking operations throughout central Oklahoma.
Anderson has served in numerous officer roles for the Oklahoma Bankers Association including director, Chair of the Education Section, Chair of the Banker-C.P.A. Committee and Treasurer. In 1975 he was awarded the OBA Presidential Award for Outstanding Service. He was Past Chair of the Board of Midwest City Memorial Hospital, the Crescent Lions Club, Past Zone and Regional 1 Chairman of the Lions Club of Oklahoma, Past President of the Crescent Chamber of Commerce, Crescent Public School Foundation and Frontier Country Historical Society in Crescent. He was selected as the 1997 Crescent Citizen of the Year and has served as Past Director of Bankers Bank in Oklahoma City and First National Bank and Trust Co. in Shawnee.
He and his wife Jo recently celebrated their 70th Anniversary. They have four children, 9 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren, most of whom are actively engaged with the banks.
