On January 2, the Texas Bankers Hall of Fame announced its 2023 inductees who will be honored at the 10th Annual Texas Bankers Hall of Fame Gala, April 27 on the campus of Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. Five iconic bankers—Kenneth L. Burgess Jr., Ron Butler, James D. Goudge, J. Pat Parsons and the late David R. Seim—are this year’s inductees. Established by the Smith-Hutson Endowed Chair of Banking at Sam Houston State University, the Texas Bankers Hall of Fame recognizes and honors the accomplishments of outstanding bankers who have made valuable contributions to the banking profession and pioneered the Texas banking industry.
Kenneth L. Burgess Jr. graduated from Texas Tech University in 1978 with a BBA degree in accounting. After graduation, he worked for the original First National Bank of Midland until 1983. He served for eight years as executive vice president of Texas National Bank of Waco and five years as president of Security State Bank in Abilene. Upon the sale of the bank, Burgess left to form the First National Bank of Midland. The bank’s name was changed to FirstCapital Bank of Texas as the bank grew into other areas of the state. It currently reports approximately $2.1 billion in assets.
Burgess has served in a number of roles in the banking industry. He was chairman of the American Bankers Association (ABA), Texas Bankers Association (TBA), ABA Community Bankers Council, Corporation for American Banking and TBA Services Co. He was a founding member of the Independent Bankers Association of Texas’ (IBAT) Young Banker’s Association and served on the board of IBAT Services Inc.
Burgess testified before the House Financial Institutions Committee in 2013 on behalf of the ABA regarding the detrimental effects of the Dodd-Frank Act on our nation’s community banks and the need for regulatory relief. He testified again before the same committee in 2017 regarding the need to improve the regulatory environment to make it easier for entrepreneurs and communities to start new community banks.
In 2017, Burgess met with President Donald Trump regarding the regulatory roadblocks inhibiting banks’ ability to serve their customers and communities. At the president’s request, Burgess and other industry executives met with U.S. Treasury Department officials to craft a regulatory white paper intended to aid financial regulators in removing unnecessary burdens on the banking industry.
Burgess is a past member of the Midland and Abilene United Way board of directors and served as United Way campaign chair in both Midland and Abilene. He is past chair of the Midland Economic Development Council and the Vision 2000 Task Force on Economic Development for the City of Midland. During his time in Waco, Burgess served on the board of trustees of the Waco Independent School District. He also served as the founding chair of the advisory board for the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University.
Burgess has been married to Cathy for 43 years and has three children, two daughters-in-law, a son-in-law and seven grandchildren.
Ron Butler is the chairman and CEO of the Abilene region for Abilene-based First Financial Bank NA. It is a $13 billion bank with 78 branches located across Texas. Butler is also executive vice president and chief administrative officer of First Financial Bankshares Inc. He previously served as CEO of First Financial Bank in Eastland and Stephenville. He has been with First Financial Bank for 30 years.
Butler graduated from Texas Tech University with a BBA and an MBA from Tarleton State University. He is also a graduate of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University.
He has served on the boards of numerous community organizations and is the former board chair of the Abilene Industrial Foundation and Abilene Chamber of Commerce. Butler also serves on the advisory council of the Excellence in Banking program at the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University, as well as the advisory council of the Rawls College of Business (emeritus). He is the former director of the West Central Texas Municipal Water District, board chair of ContinueCare Hospital at Hendrick Medical Center and the Abilene Improvement Corp. Butler was appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry to serve on the Brazos River Authority board of directors and has served numerous terms as a director of the Texas Bankers Association.
Butler and his wife, Lorilei, have two grown children: a son, Trey, and a daughter, Sydney. Both are graduates of the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University.
James D. Goudge began his banking career with the National Bank of Commerce in 1976, where he trained for management and worked his way up to assistant vice president and then senior vice president. He also worked for Kelly Field National Bank as executive vice president/senior lender and Allied American Bank, for which he served as executive vice president/commercial lender. In 1989, Goudge joined San Antonio-based Broadway Bank as executive vice president of commercial banking. He was named president and CEO in 1998 before ascending to chairman in 2001. He retired as CEO in 2016 and as chairman of the board in 2019.
While serving as chairman for almost two decades, Broadway Bank experienced growth from $1 billion in total assets, $897 million in deposits, $400 million in loans, wealth management assets valued at $603 million, net income of $19.4 million and 22 banking locations and to $3.7 billion in total assets, $3.2 billion in deposits, $2.1 billion in loans, wealth management assets valued at $2.1 billion, net income of $56 million and 36 banking locations in 2019.
Goudge represented his industry through active participation in numerous organizations, including as chairman of the Texas Bankers Association, board member of the San Antonio branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Federal Advisory Council representative for the 11th Federal Reserve District, member of the government relations and membership committees for the American Bankers Association and board member for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas.
Goudge has served his community in many capacities, including as chairman of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and its Pathway to a Great City committee, co-chairman of the Leadership San Antonio class XXIII, member of the board of trustees for United Way of San Antonio, executive committee member of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, on the board of trustees of the Southwest Research Institute, chairman of KLRN Public Television and on the board of the University of Texas–San Antonio development board. Goudge currently serves as the chair of Snack Pak 4 Kids–San Antonio and on the University of Texas Chancellor’s Council executive committee. He and his wife, Suzanne, are the co-chairs of the United Way San Antonio Tocqueville Cabinet Event committee and the Alamo Heights School Foundation Endowment capital campaign.
Goudge graduated with a BBA degree in finance from the University of Texas–Austin in 1976 and from the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University in 1985.
The Goudges have four children: Sara, Carrie, Cy and Kate, and 10 grandchildren.
J. Pat Parsons earned a BBA degree in accounting from Lamar University and an MBA degree from the University of Houston. He began his banking career with First City National Bank of Houston in 1973 as a management trainee. Parsons served as credit analyst, credit supervisor/energy and commercial lending departments, manager of the international credit group and as a member of the Asia Pacific Banking Group. From 1979 to 1984, he served as First City National Bank’s general manager of the London branch and department manager in the energy division. In 1985, Parsons transferred to First City National Bank in Beaumont where he served as president and chief operating officer, as well as senior regional credit and lending officer. He also sat on the board of First City National Bank in Beaumont and several other branches of the community bank.
Parsons joined Community Bank & Trust SSB as president and chief operating officer in 1992. In 2004, Community Bank & Trust was sold to Texas State Bank in McAllen and Parsons was named a regional president. He served there until 2006 when Texas State Bank was sold to BBVA.
Shortly after the sale to BBVA, Parsons launched Houston-based CommunityBank of Texas NA where he served as founding CEO and chairman of the board. Following CommunityBank of Texas’ merger of equals with Vista Bank of Houston and, most recently, a merger of equals with Allegiance Bank to form Houston-based Stellar Bank, Parsons is currently a director and vice chairman of Stellar Bank.
David R. Seim was born in 1945 in Corpus Christi and at the age of 12, his family moved to Lubbock. He was a 1963 graduate of Monterey High School, where he played fullback for the football team and served as senior class president. He attended Texas Tech University where he met the love of his life, Paula Jane. They married in 1966. In 1968, they had their first child, J. Hunter.
Early in his marriage, Seim was a shoe salesman at JC Penney. With a growing family to care for, he went to an employment agency that placed him in a job with CIT Loans, thus launching a career in banking that spanned nearly half a century. With his career in place, they had two more children, Spencer David in 1974 and Evan Elizabeth in 1977.
Seim’s career took him from Plains National Bank in Lubbock—where he coordinated the construction of the bank’s 50th and University location—to Amarillo where he worked for American National Bank, then back to Lubbock, where he worked for Lubbock National Bank. Seim eventually returned to Plains National Bank, which had been renamed PlainsCapital Bank. He loved working in the same building he helped make possible. Seim retired briefly, but the call and service of community banking drew him back. This began his final and happiest post as Lubbock market chairman for Happy State Bank. Seim passed away unexpectedly in 2018 while serving at Happy State Bank.
Throughout his life, Seim loved the Lubbock community, Texas Tech University and community banking. He was active in several professional banking organizations, as well as banking education programs. He served as chairman of the Independent Bankers Association of Texas, as well as a director of the Independent Community Bankers Association of America. He also served on the board of The Independent Bankers Bank in Dallas and was named chairman of the board in 1995. Additionally, Seim chaired the board of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University. His community involvement in Lubbock was also extensive, serving and chairing many organizations. Servant leadership was important to Seim. He lived his life motto—“Service Above Self”—every day of his life.
