William “Bill” Houston King, president of the Indiana Bankers Association from 1988-2000, passed away Monday, Jan. 20. He was 87 years old.

King’s career in banking started in 1957 as a messenger at Terre Haute First National Bank, which would go on to become First Financial Bank NA, Terre Haute. He stayed with the bank after finishing his bachelor’s degree at Indiana State University in 1960. In 1965, he joined Second National Bank of Richmond, which would eventually become part of U.S. Bank NA, Minneapolis. He started as an assistant trust officer but was soon promoted multiple times until being named president less than 10 years later in 1974, and then chairman and CEO in 1982.

During his time as a banker, he served the IBA as treasurer, vice president and volunteer president (the position now called chairman), and chaired several IBA committees. He was also instrumental in the development of the 1985 Indiana Bank Legislation.

In 1987, he made the move from banker to state bankers association, joining the IBA as executive vice president. He was promoted to president the next year – only the fourth person to lead the Association as full-time professional staff. His position as a banker leading a bankers’ trade association made King, as a couple of his colleagues described him, “a banker’s banker.”

In an open letter to members upon his retirement, he reflected, “The feelings I want to express come with some difficulty. They are not difficult because there is a lack of things to say, people to thank, experiences to remember and relationships to cherish. The difficulty is to separate the vast recollections of a lifetime in this business and try not to omit important people and events.”

Among those important events was growing the education side of the Association “to become perhaps the most successful in the country, and our communications effort ranks second to none.” It was also under his leadership that the IBA merged with the Indiana League of Savings Institutions, the first of two significant mergers in the Association’s history.

When he retired, a profile in Hoosier Banker counted nearly 100 bankers and colleagues from across the country who submitted letters and notes wishing him and his wife, Rachelle, well in their retirement years. They were enough to literally fill a book.

Bill and Rachelle moved to Foley, Alabama, in retirement and lived on the Gulf Coast for 18 years, enjoying lots of sunshine, golf, travel and friendships. They had recently moved to Noblesville. He is survived by Rachelle, two children, two step-children, eight grandchildren, a brother and a nephew.