Louisville, KY - Bernard M. Trager, chairman and founder of Republic Bancorp, Inc., died in Louisville, Ky., on Friday, February 10, at the age of 83.
Trager, who was born in Louisville in 1928, started his career in banking in 1952. He served as co-founder and chief executive officer of Union Trust, a Kentucky loan corporation, in 1958. Union Trust and its seven subsidiaries in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio became part of Commercial Credit of Baltimore, Md., in 1977, and Trager continued to service as president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Union Trust, while also serving as executive consultant for Commercial Credit Company, a subsidiary of Control Data.
Republic Bank & Trust Company was founded in 1982, and the bank holding company Republic Bancorp, Inc. was established in 1998. Under Trager's leadership as chairman, it has grown to become the largest Kentucky-based financial institution, with 43 banking centers in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Tennessee and Ohio.
Among Trager's many honors throughout his lifetime, he was named Professional Entrepreneur of the Year by Louisville's Entrepreneur Society and the 2011 Louisvillian of the Year by the Advertising Federation of Louisville. Along with his wife, Jean, he received the 1999 National Conference of Community and Justice (NCCJ) Weisberg Brotherhood Award and was named as Community Leader of the Year by the Caritas Foundation in 2003. They also earned the 2006 Blanche B. Ottenheimer Award from the Jewish Community Center for their unselfish service to the community of Louisville.
Trager is survived by his wife of 56 years, Jean S. Trager; his daughter, Shelley Trager Kusman; his son, Steve Trager; his brother, Alan Trager of Philadelphia, Pa.; and five grandchildren.