In Memoriam: Walter M. Sharp, Former Member of the MGM Mirage Board of Directors and Former Community Bank President
29 Dezembro 2005 - 12:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
Aug. 26, 1916 - Dec. 22, 2005 LAS VEGAS, Dec. 29
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Walter M. Sharp, a longtime member of the
MGM MIRAGE (formerly MGM Grand, Inc.) Board of Directors and a
highly respected member of the California banking industry, passed
away Dec. 22, 2005. He was 89. (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051229/LATH009 ) Mr. Sharp
was an associate of MGM MIRAGE (NYSE:MGM) majority shareholder Kirk
Kerkorian and served as a consultant for Mr. Kerkorian's company,
Los Angeles-based Tracinda Corp. He also served on the Board of
Directors for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios when Mr. Kerkorian
owned that company in the 1970s, as well as the boards of numerous
other companies. Mr. Sharp served on the MGM MIRAGE Board of
Directors from 1986 until 2002, when he was named to the honorary
position of Director Emeritus of the Board. "Not only was Walter a
prominent figure in the financial community, he played an
invaluable role on our Board and was well-known in the gaming
industry for his brilliant business sense," said Terry Lanni,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MGM MIRAGE. "The MGM MIRAGE
family is mourning his passing and our thoughts and prayers are
with his family." Mr. Sharp began his career operating an adding
machine in the check clearinghouse at the Bank of America in Los
Angeles in 1938 and, by 1956, had risen to the position of vice
president of the bank's Corporate Finance Department. In 1964, he
was named the head of Bank of America's international banking
activities in Los Angeles. He was also instrumental in creating the
bank's Direct Leasing Department. In 1965, Mr. Sharp was named
president and director of Community Bank, headquartered in
Huntington Park, Calif., where he more than doubled the number of
bank branches and multiplied the bank's assets by tenfold during
his tenure. Mr. Sharp joined the board of directors for the
Community Bankers of California (formerly the Southern California
Independent Bankers Association) in 1965, and, in 1968, was named
to a one-year term as president of the association. He was also a
member of the State and Local Government Committee of the Los
Angeles Chamber of Commerce; a member of the Philadelphia-based
banking trade group Robert Morris Association (later renamed Risk
Management Association), and a past president of the Bank Credit
Men's Association. He was also a Regent of Loyola Marymount
University in Los Angeles. "In his work with the trade
associations, and his willingness to fund independent bank
start-ups through Community Bank, Walter was a strong catalyst for
change and growth in the California independent banking industry,"
says longtime friend and former business associate Carl Schatz of
Encino, Calif. "His attitude was that independent banks should help
each other and stick together for the good of the industry." Soon
after he retired from Community Bank in 1980, he founded the Walter
M. Sharp Company in Beverly Hills, which provided financial advice,
primarily to independent community banks in California. The company
was focused on enhancing independent bank performance and dealing
with the ever-increasing regulatory issues facing banks in the
1980s and early 1990s. Mr. Sharp's eldest son, Richard Sharp of
Poway, California, said his father developed much of his ambition
while growing up near Kansas City, Mo., during the Great
Depression. "Struggling with financial challenges early in life
made Dad all the more determined to become a success in business,"
said Richard Sharp. "Once he found success, he lent his talents to
the local business community with his involvement in the Los
Angeles Chamber of Commerce and his numerous banking trade groups.
"Though he spent a great deal of time in the office and with his
professional groups, above all, he was a very loving and attentive
father and grandfather," he added. Born and raised in Liberty, Mo.,
Walter M. Sharp graduated from Liberty's William Jewell College in
1938, and was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1941, where he attended
Officers Candidate School and ultimately achieved a Captain's rank.
While commanding a company in Cebu in the Philippine Islands in
1945, he was awarded the Silver Star for "gallantry in action".
"Throughout his entire life, Walter was the word 'gallantry'
personified," said longtime friend and business associate Sally
Hazen, Senior Vice President of City National Bank in Beverly
Hills. "He was a true gentleman in every sense of the word --
humble, honest and kind. Professionally, Walter was the 'John
Wayne' of the independent banking world because he always stood his
ground. He was tough, but very fair to those who worked with him."
He was very athletic and excelled in sports, including as a
letterman in football at William Jewell. When Bank of America
officials realized that the tall, agile young man knew how to
handle a basketball, they recruited him to play on a semi-pro
basketball team that the bank sponsored at the time. Later in life,
he was a member of the California Club, the Lakeside Golf Club, the
Los Angeles Country Club and El Dorado Country Club in Palm
Springs. Mr. Sharp, who spent most of his adult life in Los
Angeles, most recently in Studio City, was preceded in death two
months ago by his wife of 60 years, the former Katherine Brierton.
In addition to his son Richard, he is survived by his
daughter-in-law, Colleen; his son Gregory, and Gregory's fiancee,
Kathryn Maxfield; three grandchildren and eight
great-grandchildren. The memorial service for Mr. Sharp will be
held in the Old North Church at Forest Lawn -- Hollywood Hills,
6300 Forest Lawn Dr., Los Angeles, on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2006, at
10:30 a.m. The service will be immediately followed by a reception
at the Sheraton Universal, 333 Universal Hollywood Drive, Universal
City. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be
sent in Walter M. Sharp's name to Providence St. Joseph Medical
Center, 501 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, Calif. 91505.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051229/LATH009
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: MGM MIRAGE CONTACT:
Investors, James Murren, President, Chief Financial Officer and
Treasurer, +1-702-693-8770, or Media, Alan Feldman, Senior Vice
President of Public Affairs, +1-702-891-7147, both of MGM MIRAGE
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