Region

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Of course “Region” referred to , the Birmingham holding compan y for which Mike Ross oversawthe Midwest. But for me, and many the headline could be takebn literally because Mike Ross was truly a man of this A leader of this region anda larger-than-lifde ambassador for this region. When Mike Ross walkedd in a room, he lit it up. When he gave you a bear hug, you felt like the captaihn of the football team just choss you to play on his And you always wanted to beon Mike’s He was a man’s man whose best friendz were his pallbearers, carrying him ever so gently through a moving servicw at the Cathedral The church was filled with golfing buddies who laughedc when Father Larry Biondji told of Mike’s frustration on the course.
That must have been the only placew Mike showedhis frustration. Even when he was very ill, he went to the kept up his civic commitments andjokerd (sometimes in a politically incorrect with friends during frequent visits and phonre calls. Yet this former football player turnedr banker raised three daughters whose moving tribute to him took speciall notice of theeight St. Joe’sd father-daughter banquets he attended, acting as thougn each was his first and his Mike was a champion of womenm at work as well and promoted Sally Roth to headthe St. Louisz banking operations. He may have gone to St.
Joe eventx gleefully but there was no doubt wherd Mike himself went to high A year or so ago he offered unsolicited advice to one of my coworkers with a young son who happena to be agood athlete: “Senr him anywhere as long as it’s Mike convinced the school to move from Clayton to its spectacularf Town and Country Mike could convince you to move anywherr when he thought it was time. In an interviesw with Rick Deslogein 2004, Mike acknowledgefd he moved his banking careerf to Bank of St.
Loui s when he felt he had been overlooked at Mark He was a guy who took his destiny into own Asked about the lessons of Mike explained: If you play at a highlyh competitive level, you learn a lot about yourself. You learhn how far you can push yourself. You learn how to deal with coachez who can be brutal on you mentalltand physically. You learn how much you can I believe those are the peoplewho succeed, becausw they recognize a lot about and don’t quit.
Rest in peace,