Ellis Trent ?Bud? Gravette, Jr.
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E.T. "Bud" Gravette, Jr., who started out in small-town banking in Chelan, Washington and went on to a storied career, spanning seven decades, as a change-agent and turnaround strategist creatively restructuring savings banking, mortgage banking and construction industries at the national and international level, passed away peacefully, August 28, 2020, at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, California. He was 94 years old.
Gravette served as a board member of New York based Hunter Roberts Construction Group at his death. He helped found the group, in 2005, which specializes in multiple market sectors including education, healthcare, residential, sports, entertainment, cultural, science, commercial and public sector construction services. The company currently has 375 employees and has been ranked in the Top Ten NYC Builders for the last 10 years. James C. McKenna, President and CEO, said, "Bud was an awesome mentor and advisor for me over the years and most importantly, a great friend."
Gravette was Chairman and CEO of Pacer Technology (brand name holder of The Original Super Glue and other adhesive products) from 1999 to 2017. In 2017, the company sold to AC Marca, a multi-national group with 10 subsidiaries, headquartered in Barcelona, Spain.
In 1981, Gravette joined the board of Turner Construction, at the time the largest general contractor in the U.S. In 1996, he took over as CEO with the goal of solving the company's capital problem and finding a successor within three years. Under his management the stock price doubled, however, the company's capital problem remained. In 1999 Gravette engineered a merger and acquisition with the German company, Hochtief. The Turner Corporation, with a net worth of less than $60 million three years earlier, sold to Hochtief for $370 million. Today Turner Construction is a North American based international company employing thousands.
Banking, specifically creating opportunities for startups and enabling the growth of businesses, remained one of Gravette's passions throughout his life. As a member of the board of MidFirst Bank for over two decades he was able to stay involved in this industry throughout his career. G. Jeffrey Records, Jr., Chairman and CEO of MidFirst Bank, the largest U.S. privately owned bank, recently credited Gravette as being one of his key mentors in the construction and banking business. Gravette's friendship and business relationship with George and Jeffrey Records spanned over 60 years and was a highlight of his life.
It was during Gravette's tenure, which began in 1978, as President and CEO of Bowery Savings Bank in New York City, the largest savings bank in the U.S. at that time, when he wrote his guide to good management called Common Sense Management. "Plan, Organize, Motivate and Control" were the key components of the Common Sense Management Course used to train over 500 employees. These guiding principles: investing in strong customer service, incentivizing employees through profit sharing and career advancement opportunities and instilling a 'do it now' philosophy, while always keeping share-holders' interests at the forefront of all decisions were something Gravette learned early on and proved critical in meeting the challenges of the savings bank industry during the 1980's. The bank had a 140-year history and the industry was crumbling due to heavy bureaucracy and locked-in investment strategies for the economic times. Savings banks' traditionally low interest rates were unsustainable under this inflationary period and devastated the industry when they went from 5% to 15% in a matter of months. One of Gravette's primary objectives as bank Chairman was to convert The Bowery from a savings bank into a commercial bank. Disintermediation which was occurring during the time of his tenure with the bank caused a delay of this objective until the mid- 80's. Many creative solutions were attempted, but ultimately Gravette was able to work with a former Trustee of the Bowery to put together a small group of investors who raised the $100 million of capital necessary to acquire the Bowery Savings Bank. Finally, in 1985, Gravette signed the papers to convert the charter of the Bowery and transferred ownership from a mutual institution to a private bank.
Before taking on the challenge of the Bowery Savings Bank, Gravette served on the board of its mortgage company, Bowest, which was located in Los Angeles, and soon became Chairman of the Bowest Corporation. He quickly changed operations, eliminating gaps between originations of mortgages and sales of mortgages and returned Bowest to profitability.
Prior to joining Bowest, Gravette served as Chairman and CEO of US Financial. He was encouraged to take this position by Kenneth Leventhal, Senior Managing Partner and Founder of the Leventhal accounting firm and the Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) which together had found a small condition of fraud reported to be about $1.5 million. In short order, Gravette found that the fraud far exceeded the amount originally anticipated by the SEC. It quickly grew to $30 million and ultimately Gravette uncovered scams worth $300 million in fraud, and US Financial became the largest single New York Stock Exchange company ever to be charged at that time. By June of 1973, US Financial filed for bankruptcy which according to the Judge was the largest bankruptcy ever. Six men were eventually implicated in the fraud and sentenced to prison.
In 1965, two years after starting Union Bank of Tucson, Gravette became Vice President and soon President of Palomar Financial, a publicly held company in San Diego. He managed the company as an entrepreneurial business and moved it to a new ten story headquarters in the Mission Valley area of San Diego, California.
Gravette joined Burroughs Corporation, the leading supplier of accounting machines to the banking industry, in 1957. Because of his prior experience as manager of the small-town bank, Miners and Merchants Bank in Chelan, Washington, Gravette was able to speak the banking language and also understood the accounting systems required by banks. It was a good fit. He began his work with Burroughs in Seattle, eventually moving to San Francisco and ultimately Detroit. He enjoyed the sales part of the job and also enjoyed the programming side of these early "computers" to come up with creative solutions for his banking customers. After several years with Burroughs, Gravette accepted the challenge of chartering the Union Bank of Tucson. He took over in January, 1963 and the bank open its doors for customers four months later.
E.T. "Bud" Gravette, Jr. was born in Hayward, California, on October 21, 1925, to Ellis Trent Gravette and Lucie Halliday Gravette, both originally from Gravette, Arkansas. The small-town of Gravette, Arkansas was founded by his great grandfather, Ellis Tillman Gravette. The town was named for his great grandfather when he gave the right of way for the Kansas City Southern Railroad to come through. His paternal grandfather, Edwin Moore Gravette, together with a merchant, a doctor and a lawyer, organized and started the First National Bank of Gravette.
His parents left Gravette, Arkansas in the 1920's and moved to Hayward, California. From there they relocated to Olympia, Washington and ultimately Spokane, Washington. He was preceded in death by his mother (Lucie Halliday Gravette), father (Ellis Trent Gravette), a sister (Mary Gravette Williams) and the love of his life his wife of 69 years, Elizabeth Gail 'Bege' Gravette who passed away in July 2016.
It was while attending high school in Spokane, Washington that he first met, Bege. They both held part-time jobs at Benewah Market. They went on to attend Washington State College, now Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman, Washington. He graduated in 1947 with a degree in Math. While at WSU he served the WWII effort in the United States Navy. He attended school in Minnesota and Washington, DC while in the Navy, but was able to graduate on time from WSU. He and Bege married at age 21 after both graduated from college. Gravette began his career, at age 21, as bank manager of Miners and Merchants Bank in Chelan, Washington.
Both Bege and Bud dreamed big and wanted an exciting life. They could have never imagined all of the wonderful adventures they would experience together. Faith along with a strong moral compass and work ethic allowed them to achieve the life of their dreams. They have 3 children: son, Ron Gravette (Janet); daughter, Marcia Littler (Curt); son, Don Gravette (Patty). They also have 8 grandchildren: Bill Gravette (Susie); Carrie Patterson (Clay); Sheli Higgins (Ben); Clint Jespersen (Conni); Blaine Jespersen (Sarah); Kim Tyler (Kevin); Hayley Gleason (Eddie); Aimee McAfee (Colin). Additionally they have 15 great grandchildren: Jack, Graham, Olivia, Maggie, Janie, Dean, Katherine, Alex, Grant, Owen, Ellie, Kate, Liam, Teddy, and Mollie.
Gravette was known as a generous, loving, clever, creative, fun man who was a wonderful storyteller with a terrific sense of humor. He was revered by every member of his family and respected and admired by many, many friends and colleagues.
He made time to serve every community he lived in over the years including having served as a Trustee of the William T. Grant Foundation in New York, New York; Advisory Board Member of the Greater New York Salvation Army, New York, New York; Trustee of the Metropolitan Club, New York, New York; Member - Commission - Status of Women, New York, New York; Director, Economic Development Corporation, San Diego, California; Trustee, WSU Foundation, Pullman, Washington; Member - Governor's Task Force on Thrifts, New York, New York; Director, Greater San Diego Sports Association, San Diego, California; Director New York City Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Corporation, New York, New York; Trustee, Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, La Jolla, California; Trustee, St Luke's, Roosevelt Hospital, New York, New York. Additionally, he previously served as Director and President of Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California and Director and President of La Jolla Country Club, La Jolla, California.
A Celebration of Life is being planned and will be held as soon as Covid-19 virus restrictions on events are lifted. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contributions be made to a charity of your choice.