Oklahoma Bankers Association We make bankers better!
On Dec. 4, the Oklahoma Bankers Hall of Fame inducted four new members.
This year’s class included four outstanding bankers who have been – and still are – pillars in the banking industry, their communities and the state of Oklahoma.
This group of bankers falls right in line with previous inductees with their storied history and contributions still being made today to our industry.
I had the opportunity to introduce each inductee at the ceremony on Dec. 4 and read their bios to the gathered crowd. I also wanted to take this space to share with you those bios of each of the inductees who make up the 2024 class in the Oklahoma Bankers Hall of Fame.
Brud Baker
Brud Baker has been a stalwart in Oklahoma banking for more than five decades. An Enid native, Baker began his career at CitiBank in New York in 1968 but returned to his hometown in 1969. He joined Central National Bank & Trust Company of Enid, now Stride Bank, where he would go on to shape not only the institution but the broader banking landscape in Oklahoma and beyond.
Baker’s leadership was pivotal during the oil and gas crisis of the 1980s, when many financial institutions in the state of Oklahoma failed. Central National Bank remained resilient, ultimately emerging stronger and more adaptive. He was appointed president during that time and later named CEO in the 1990s.
In 2019, he led the institution through a rebrand to Stride Bank, reflecting a renewed strategic focus on innovation, national growth and partnerships with some of the most recognized brands in the country.
Today, Stride Bank is over $4 billion in assets, and has expanded its customer base from 20,000 to over five million. Baker remains actively engaged as chairman and CEO.
Outside the bank, Baker has contributed extensively to civic and economic development efforts in Enid. His service includes leadership roles with the Enid Chamber of Commerce, Joint Industrial Foundation, St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, and United Way of Enid and Northwest Oklahoma.
Sandy Bracken
Sandy Bracken retired in 2020 after a 27-year career in banking, most recently serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer at First Liberty Bank in Oklahoma City.
She launched her banking career in 1973 at First National Bank of Midwest City. While working toward her college degree, she supported the bank’s imprinting and proof operations departments and transferred to accounting in 1975.
In the 1980s, Bracken stepped away from banking to finish her degree, pass the CPA exam, and raise her daughter. She returned in the early 2000s as part of a group of investors who purchased The First State Bank of Canute, where she also served as interim president. By 2006, she was the first hire for the newly formed First Liberty Bank in Oklahoma City. She worked with First Liberty until her retirement in 2020, but continues to serve as vice chair of the board of directors and chair of the audit committee.
Beyond her work at the bank, Bracken completed two six-year terms on the Oklahoma State Banking Board. She was the first female banker appointed to the board by Gov. Mary Fallin. After retiring from the bank, she founded Benchmark Operations LLC, a consulting firm specializing in banking services. She is also a past chair of the finance committee at St. Luke’s Methodist Church and the treasurer of a non-profit organization that provides after-school art programs to inner-city youth.
Gary Huckabay
The late Gary Huckabay was a longtime banking stalwart in southwestern Oklahoma and Oklahoma City, chartering and running several banks in the area.
Huckabay’s career in banking began in his hometown of Snyder where he worked with his father, Clayton, at First National Bank – which later became Bank of the Wichitas. In 1969, the younger Huckabay chartered First Mustang State Bank, in Mustang, where he served as president and chairman of the board. In June 2015, all of the family’s banks were merged to become All America Bank, with the corporate office in Mustang, and he remained as chairman emeritus. Huckabay’s three children continue to run the bank to this day.
Additionally, Huckabay served as president of the Independent Bankers Association and was on the Oklahoma Banking Commission for many years. He also was a part of the Oklahoma Council of Bond Oversight. He was a member of Leadership Canadian County and Leadership Oklahoma. He also was a member of the board and the selection committee for the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. He was founder of the Positive Posse to promote Mustang civic activities. He is a graduate of Snyder High School, where he was the 1956 valedictorian, and also of the University of Oklahoma with a degree in electrical engineering.
An Oklahoma Hall of Fame annual scholarship to a Canadian County student was established by Huckabay in 2005, and it continues today.
Huckabay passed away in 2019 at the age of 81.
Lee Symcox
A fourth-generation banker, Lee Symcox has been part of the banking industry for more than 50 years, and still currently serves as CEO of First Fidelity Bank, in Oklahoma City.
Symcox began his career as a teller at City National Bank, of Norman, before he was even old enough to drive, when he was just 14-years old. Symcox worked his way from bookkeeper — a pre-computers gig that required him to file checks in numerical order — through every “nook and cranny of the bank”. He became bank president in 1992. Eventually City National merged with First Fidelity in the early 1990s and Symcox was named president and chief executive officer in 1993.
Under his leadership, the bank has grown from $160 million in assets to its current size of more than $2.8 billion with locations also in Arizona and Colorado.
He is responsible for innovating and sponsoring the OU Price College Integrated Business Core Program, which has provided an experiential business education to students for more than 30 years. To date, the IBC program has donated more than $1.5 million to local non-profit organizations.
Symcox has served on countless boards, including the Federal Reserve Community Advisory Council, and was recognized by the Journal-Record as one of the most admired CEOs in in the state. He has served as president of both Leadership Oklahoma and Leadership Oklahoma City.
He is a native of Norman, a graduate of Norman High School and the University of Oklahoma.