He grew a family bank in Dothan into a Fortune 500 titan.
Wallace Malone, Jr., founder of what became SouthTrust Bank, died October 25 at age 90.
Services for Malone will be held on the day after the mid-term election, Wednesday, Nov. 4 at First Baptist Church of Dothan. Visitation starts are 10 a.m. and a memorial service at noon.
Starting from a local Alabama bank, Malone built SouthTrust Corp. with more than $53 billion in assets. The starting point was First National Bank of Dothan, which Malone joined in 1959, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.
In 1971, he was appointed to the board of the Birmingham Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
Malone served first as president of SouthTrust and in 1981 was elected chairman and chief executive officer. What followed was more than three decades of growth. By 2004, SouthTrust had more than 700 branches in nine states and over 12,500 employees. It was among the 20 largest bank holding companies in the United States. That year, SouthTrust merged with Wachovia, which was later acquired by Wells Fargo in 2008.
From First National Bank of Dothan, to SouthTrust, to Wachovia, to Wells Fargo – a stellar and almost unmatched banking career.
Malone was a graduate of Dothan High School, the University of Alabama, and the prestigious Wharton School of Business at Penn.
His business leadership earned him induction into the Alabama Academy of Honor and the Alabama Business Hall of Fame. He served on numerous civic, charitable and educational boards, including Troy University, Samford University, the UAB Health System and the United Way, and supported education through The Malone Family Foundation.
In 1978, he married Ocllo Boykin Smith of Mobile. Friends of the couple joked that the marriage was a “merger.” The Boykin and Smith families in Mobile are multi-generation business and property success stories. They were married 48 years until his death.
Wallace Malone’s six children, 17 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren are saying goodbye to their “Opa.”
Obituary information for Wallace Davis Malone Jr.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler is a freelance writer about the colorful and positive in Alabama — her people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com
