Marquette Bank Celebrates 80th Anniversary
Release date: 6/2/2025
Opening Day Lobby May 12, 1945
For the McCarthy family, Marquette Bank has been a staple for the past 80 years. When the bank opened on May 12, 1945, Mr. John McCarthy served as a founding director and chairman of the board.
After a career in real estate, Mr. McCarthy raised $250,000 from family, friends, and local business owners to capitalize the new bank. With World War II ending and many of the nearby banks shuttered due to the Great Depression, he and his investors believed that the neighborhood would need and support a new bank. Under his guidance, the bank focused on financing essential assets—cars, homes, and apartment buildings—for local residents. He believed this was the best way to serve the interests of depositors, neighbors, and shareholders. Following that strategy, Marquette Bank has grown to become one of the largest independent neighborhood banks in Chicagoland and has been profitable every year since 1946.
Employees who knew Mr. McCarthy commented on how he always remembered their names, their families, and showed up when they needed him most—during both times of success and grief. Many recounted that he was a man of great character and compassion. His focus on his employees paved the way for the strong culture at the bank, where many have spent their entire careers and decades of their lives.
While the size of the bank has grown dramatically over the past 80 years, its measured growth still encompasses real estate lending, giving back to the neighborhoods, and retaining shareholders who are descendants of the original founders—values that Mr. McCarthy would have appreciated.
Now, 80 years later, Mr. McCarthy’s son, Paul McCarthy, serves as Bank Chairman, carrying on his father’s legacy.
The 80th Anniversary Celebration kicked off last fall at the start of the Chicago Blackhawks season when Marquette Bank pledged to donate $80 for each goal scored during the 2024-25 season. While the team netted 224 regular-season goals, the bank exceeded its pledge by donating $21,775 to a total of 23 organizations as part of the Marquette Neighborhood Commitment initiative.
The award-winning Marquette Neighborhood Commitment program conducts monthly service projects, provides volunteers, offers support, and partners with nonprofits in the areas of Shelter/Housing, Hunger, Education, and Health/Wellness. For the 80th Anniversary, Marquette Bank will complete a minimum of 80 service projects this year. Last month, employee teams made 50 sandwiches for 22 days, resulting in 1,100 sandwiches donated to a local shelter. In May, the annual scholarship program awarded 64 scholarships to local high school students—a tradition that began in 1968. In June, the Marquette Neighborhood Commitment will host its third Mobile Food Pantry event of the year, during which families can drive through and pick up food to last an entire week. Each event helps over 200 families in need.
On February 14—what the bank calls “Love Where You Bank” Day—Marquette Bank held its first bankwide anniversary celebration. Employees and customers joined in launching the “80 Faces of Marquette Bank” campaign, which features stories and interviews with longtime employees, customers, retirees, and neighborhood partners. The videos and interviews tell the Marquette Bank story while highlighting the benefits of banking locally with a neighborhood bank. The campaign was extended to include radio, CTV, social media, paid digital, direct mail, and traditional advertising, and it features weekly 80th Anniversary email stories to customers.
In March, Marquette Bank received a special gift in the form of its most recent Community Reinvestment Act results. The bank was awarded its 12th consecutive Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) “Outstanding” rating—the highest performance rating—from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. This achievement places Marquette Bank in the top 1% of all banks nationwide regarding CRA performance.
The 80th Anniversary celebration will conclude with a fall special event honoring the people and organizations featured in the “80 Faces of Marquette Bank” campaign. For customers, there will be a final branch wide celebration on September 27 to coincide with National Good Neighbor Day.
For more information about Marquette Bank’s 80th Anniversary and the “80 Faces of Marquette Bank” campaign, visit: https://emarquettebank.com/80
Marquette Bank employees prepare for Mobile Food Pantry event at the original bank location at 63rd & Western Ave
About Marquette Bank:
Marquette Bank is one of Chicagoland’s largest remaining independent neighborhood banks. The bank has helped neighbors, families and businesses since 1945. Marquette Bank offers a full range of digital and in-person banking services including: consumer banking, business banking, home financing, commercial lending, trust services, student loans, investment, insurance and wealth management services. Marquette Bank is a subsidiary of Marquette National Corporation (MNAT), a diversified financial holding company, and has $2 billion in assets along with a local lending portfolio of $1 billion. Marquette Bank is a national leader in community development receiving eleven consecutive ‘Outstanding’ Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance ratings from its bank regulator the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The bank has been recognized with two Excellence and Innovation Awards from the Community Bankers Association of Illinois (CBAI) and the Community Commitment Award for Volunteerism by the American Bankers Association (ABA) Foundation.
Marquette Bank has banking centers in Chicago, Bolingbrook, Bridgeview, Evergreen Park, Hickory Hills, Lemont, New Lenox, Oak Lawn, Oak Forest, Orland Park, Summit and Tinley Park Illinois. Marquette Bank is an Equal Opportunity Lender, Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. For more information visit: emarquettebank.com or call 1-888-254-9500.