Don Gibson, founding CEO of Legacy National Bank in Springdale, dies at 76

Don Gibson, part of the founding team of Springdale-based Legacy National Bank, died Saturday (May 4) in Springdale. He was 76. According to his obituary, Gibson died peacefully at his home. No cause of death was given.

“A mentor and friend to so many of us, our lives were better because he was in it,” the bank said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to Don’s family during this difficult time. As we honor his memory, we pay tribute to him and the legacy he left behind. Without him, we know our Legacy wouldn’t be what it is today.”

Gibson was a bank board member and working part-time as CEO emeritus at the time of his death.  He worked closely with his youngest son Derek, who has held various leadership roles for the bank and is now chief operating officer.

A memorial service will be on Thursday (May 9) at 10 a.m. at First United Methodist Church in Springdale. Sisco Funeral Chapel in Springdale is handling the arrangements.

“We are all in shock, and it’s a sad day at Legacy,” said Patrick Swope, the bank’s president and CEO.

Swope and Gibson left Bank of America in 2004 to help poultry magnate Gary George of Springdale-based George’s Inc. —Swope’s father-in-law — launch Legacy National Bank. The bank opened its doors in 2005 with Gibson as CEO and Swope as COO.

“Great man and a great friend,” Swope said.

Born and raised in Northwest Arkansas, Gibson earned an MBA from the University of Arkansas. After graduation, he worked eight years for refrigerated trucking pioneer Willis Shaw Express in Springdale, one of the nation’s largest and most successful specialized motor carriers. He worked as vice president of human resources for eight years.

According to his obituary, Gibson left Willis Shaw in 1981 to begin a career in banking. He eventually became Arkansas market president for Bank of America, where he worked for 23 years before becoming a founding stockholder and CEO at Legacy National Bank.

Gibson was involved in numerous civic endeavors. He was a board member of the Winthrop Rockefeller Research Center and executive committee chairman for the University of Arkansas Foundation. He was currently on the Northwest Technical Institute Foundation board of directors, the UAMS Foundation board and president of the Springdale Country Club board of directors.

As a co-founder of the Ryan Gibson Foundation, Gibson dedicated ten years to fundraising for leukemia research in memory of his eldest son, Ryan. The foundation contributed over $3 million to hospital research grants and supported the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Precision Medicine Leukemia Research Program.

“It is a tragic loss,” said Jeremy Woody, the bank’s chief lending officer. “He was a great banker, but more importantly, a great person who cared about his family and community.”

Legacy has 11 locations in Benton and Washington counties. The company built its first three locations in Springdale before branching out with a banking center on Joyce Boulevard in Fayetteville that opened in 2013. A Rogers location opened on Pauline Whitaker Parkway in 2014. A sixth banking center opened in 2018 in Bentonville, at the southwest corner of Walton Boulevard and Southwest 28th Street.

The bank added three locations in Centerton, Gravette and Hiwasse in 2021 when it merged with its subsidiary, Bank of Gravette. The two banks previously operated separately and independently since Legacy Bancshares Inc., Legacy’s holding company, acquired Bank of Gravette in June 2018.

Legacy National Bank had $70 million in assets just four months after opening. According to the latest data available from the FDIC, the bank had $984.5 million in assets as of Dec. 31.