Rollin Dart, leader of Dart Bank for 37 years, dies at 90
MASON – "Rollie" Dart, who for 37 years ran the bank his grandfather founded — and continued to charm Dart Bank visitors for 16 years after his retirement — died Thursday at age 90.
Peter Kubacki, Dart Bank's current president and CEO, called Dart a friend, mentor and a "moral compass for the bank."
He said Dart urged management and staff to carry on his values, "caring for the customers and caring for the communities."
"Care for your customers more than what you have to sell them," Dart told the State Journal in October. "Care for them more as people than as prospective customers."
Doug Klein, executive director for the Mason Area Chamber of Commerce, said the business community will miss Dart "tremendously."
"Dart Bank was one of the charter members of the Chamber of Commerce when it started out 44 years ago," Klein said, "and he has been involved with chamber activities and supporting the chamber all of those years."
Ben Schwendener, a retired attorney and longtime friend, called Dart "an exemplary human being" who "excelled at what he did."
He said the two of them would walk through downtown Mason, but progress often was slow.
"It would take Rollie a half hour to walk a block," Schwendener recalled. "That's because he stopped to talk to so many people along the way."
"The biggest thing in my life down through the years has been the people that we've hired," Dart said in the October interview. "To me, at least, we're kind of a tight group. They're wonderful people to work with."
Dart, whose formal name was Rollin Bashford Dart, was only seven months younger than the bank itself, which was founded by his grandfather Rollin Charles Dart on April 25, 1925. Originally chartered as Dart National Bank of Mason, it stood at the southeast corner of Jefferson and Ash streets in downtown Mason, where the now-closed Dart Insurance Agency stands now. The Vault Deli uses the building today.
By the late 1930s the bank was located at the northwest corner of Jefferson and Ash streets in downtown Mason.
It around that time Dart began working at the bank after school, sometimes, he admitted in later years, getting into mischief. But by 1945, Dart was a 19-year-old Marine fighting on what he called "a little stick and sulfur island called Iwo Jima."
In January 1962 Rollin Dart left his insurance business to take over as president and CEO after the 1960 death of his father, Doc Campbell Dart. The title of president was added in 1964.
With Rollin Dart at the helm, the bank's holdings increased from $8 million to more than $179 million, according to the bank’s website. There was expansion, and today there are branches in Holt and Grand Ledge.
The main office was moved to its current location, at 368 S. Park St., in 1969. Current bank officials say they plan to move into a new building, under construction immediately to the west, by fall.
One piece of advice for bankers that he shared in October: “"Make sure your bank always can stay what we would call liquid, like you're never in a position where you don't have cash."
Dart retired in mid-1999, but with the new titles of chairman emeritus and community relations officer he did anything but disappear from public view. He remained a familiar figure at the bank — even retaining his old office — and in downtown Mason.
He loved receiving visitors and interacting with bank customers.
Another tip for bankers: "It helps if your people really love people."
Contact Curt Smith at (517) 377-1226 or csmith@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @CurtSmithLSJ.
Funeral arrangements
Visitation for Rollin Dart is set for 2 p.m. to 4 p.m and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, Mason Chapel, 621 S. Jefferson St. Services are pending.