Lewis Looks to Brooks for Bank of Fayetteville Future

In a July 22 letter to shareholders, John Lewis announced that he has stepped down as president of The Bank of Fayetteville, N.A.

In the same letter, he said the new president will be Mary Beth Brooks, former executive vice president of Arvest-Rogers. Brooks will start sometime in August, after she has time to take care of personal business and move back to Fayetteville, Lewis said in a telephone conversation.

Lewis will remain the bank’s chairman and CEO and will continue to work on community relations and bank strategy.

“It’s a little more think-time than anything else,” he said. “I like to strategize.”

Lewis had been president of The Bank of Fayetteville for 17 years.

The bank opened on June 5, 1987, and during its first six months of operation, made $18 million in loans and by December 1987 had assets of $28 million.

One year later, the bank had $47 million in deposits and had made $32 million in loans.

The Bank of Fayetteville now operates eight offices and, as of March 31, had total assets of $280 million, up 17 percent from $239.5 million a year earlier.

Lewis’ family has occupied the building on the downtown Fayetteville square for 100 years this month, he said, so he’s not going anywhere. The family ran Lewis Brothers Hardware for most of that time in the same building.

“I feel at home in the building,” Lewis said.