It is with truly heart-felt sadness that I inform you of the loss of BLAIR ROBINSON, a valuable and respected member of our Board of Directors of Scottsdale Community Bank. More importantly, it is the tremendous loss of an incredible father, son, brother, and uncle to his family. Blair recently passed away after a courageous, valiant fight against pancreatic cancer.

Blair was a dedicated, hard-working Member of our Board whose vast banking experience and just plain common sense played  integral roles in our bank’s formation and then our operations since opening earlier this year. We all learned a lot from Blair about banking, and we also learned from Blair a lot about life. Blair possessed the highest values of integrity, work ethic, principles, and a compassionate heart, always showing respect for human dignity in all of his business and personal relationships. Blair was someone whom people could trust. He was that inspirational person who touched so many people in so many ways.

Blair joined our Board in Scottsdale after retiring from 42 years of banking in the north suburbs of Chicago. He began his banking career at the Bank of Northfield where he rose to Senior Vice President within 8 years. Two short years later he became President and Director of the Bank of Glenbrook in Glenview, Illinois. He subsequently became a Founding Director of Northview Financial Corporation, the holding company of Northview Bank and Trust. He then became the bank's President and CEO with Blair being responsible for overall bank performance and serving as chair of the Loan, Asset Liability Management, Compliance, Audit, Executive, Strategic Planning, and Compensation committees. In 2004, the bank had grown to 4 locations and had approximately $500 million in assets. Blair helped engineer its sale to the Wintrust Financial Corporation bringing profits to his investors. Following that sale, Blair continued as President, CEO, and Director of Northview Bank and Trust and became Vice-Chair of Northbrook Bank and Trust. Blair subsequently joined American Chartered Bank where he worked until he retired in 2018. During his illustrious career, Blair was very active in his community serving as a Commissioner of the Northfield Park District and as a member of the Northfield Board of Trustees where he was the Finance Committee Chair. Blair also served as Vice President of the Northfield Chamber of Commerce and was involved with numerous local business and charitable organizations.

Upon “retiring”, Blair and his wonderful wife, Genna, moved to Scottsdale. Blair was born in Tucson and graduated from Northern Arizona University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business. He also received an MBA from Lake Forest Academy School of Management in Illinois. He loved Arizona and enjoyed showing friends from Chicago his re-found state. Blair also fulfilled his desire to stay involved with his life-long career in banking by joining the Board of Directors of Scottsdale Community Bank which was applying to become the first new community bank in 14 years. Blair chaired the bank’s Loan Committee and served on other important committees. His fellow Board members relied on Blair in many ways as he earned the respect of everyone with whom he came into contact. He was a no-nonsense guy who had a way of having his colleagues understand complex situations in the simplest terms. One of the best words to describe Blair is that he was “genuine.”

Blair and his loving family, including his wife and his two sons and two daughters, have so much of which to be very proud. While the loss of Blair hits hard in our spirits and in our hearts, we feel so very fortunate, and rewarded, to have had Blair in our lives.