One of Mississippi’s largest corporately owned downtown green spaces now bears the name of one of the state’s most distinguished bankers and community leaders.
On Thursday, October 3, Hancock Whitney—one of America’s strongest, safest banks—rededicated the 56,000-square-foot park adjacent to the company’s downtown Gulfport headquarters as the George A. Schloegel Lighthouse Memorial Park in memory of the late George A. Schloegel, former bank chairman, president, and chief executive officer.
The park dedication also kicked off the company’s October commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the bank’s 1899 charter. The Hancock Whitney 125th anniversary Mississippi Coast Chamber After-5 celebration followed the ceremony.
During the dedication, bank leaders unveiled a brick and bronze monument honoring Schloegel’s legacy as a banking industry leader.
“It’s really very appropriate that the new monument honoring George’s life of servant leadership faces the corporate headquarters of the company and the building he helped build. It’s very fitting, too, that the monument faces east, where the sun rises to introduce each new day,” said Hancock Whitney President and CEO John M. Hairston during the dedication. “With great honor and remembrance, we officially rename this park the George A. Schloegel Lighthouse Memorial Park.”
Schloegel began his career with the bank in 1956 as a 16-year-old mail runner earning $1 an hour to help his widowed mother make ends meet. During a stellar career covering the next five decades, he managed almost every area of the bank, eventually assuming the bank’s highest executive roles.
After he retired from the bank, Schloegel, a native and lifetime resident of Gulfport, served as mayor of his hometown from 2009-2013. Schloegel passed away unexpectedly but peacefully on October 6, 2023.
In the late 1970s, Schloegel had been integral to the design and construction of Hancock Bank’s corporate headquarters building (then called One Hancock Plaza), which the bank dedicated in 1981.
Following Hurricane Katrina, Schloegel spearheaded restoration of the heavily damaged One Hancock Plaza and a new park design. The fully refurbished, updated building reopened one year after Katrina.
In 2007, the bank rededicated the park, this time as Lighthouse Park, in deference to the Ship Island Lighthouse incorporated into Hancock Bank’s logo in the early 20th century and to the 1999 bank and community partnership Schloegel helped lead to rebuild the Ship Island Lighthouse in conjunction with the bank’s 100th anniversary.
At the dedication, bank leaders added that the park reflects Schloegel’s commitment to the bank, creating a sprawling central area where people could gather to celebrate the culture and community of the Gulf Coast.
Today, Hancock Whitney has approximately $35 billion in assets and serves communities across the five contiguous Gulf Coast states. BauerFinancial, Inc., consistently rates Hancock Whitney among the top 25% of the nation’s most financially sound banks, now for 140 consecutive quarters.