The Saint John’s University community mourns the passing of Stearns Bank founder and generous philanthropist Norm Skalicky, who passed away on Nov. 7 at the age of 87.
SJU benefitted from his commitment to giving back to the surrounding community over the years - most notably through a gift he provided that made possible the Skalicky Seasonal Dome at Gagliardi Field – joining his name together with that of his longtime friend – legendary longtime Johnnies football coach John Gagliardi.
“They had a lot in common in that they were two guys who both did things differently,” Gagliardi’s son Jim said. “And they were both so interested in other people. Norm was really a people person.”
Skalicky purchased a majority interest in Stearns County State Bank in 1964, and in First State Bank in Albany in 1966. Over the years, he expanded them into what became Stearns Bank, a nationwide financial institution with over $2.4 billion in assets.
He served as CEO and President there for over 50 years before turning the reins over to his daughter Kelly – a current member of the Board of Trustees at SJU – in 2019.
In 1999, he also established the Norman C. Skalicky Foundation to continue his many philanthropic efforts in Central Minnesota and beyond. That included a $5 million gift to help launch the Boys and Girls Club of Central Minnesota’s Great Futures Endowment Campaign in 2019.
“I first met Norm in 1963 when he was an assistant cashier at a bank in Albany,” said Bill Sexton, a longtime friend of both Skalicky and Gagliardi, who himself had a long and successful career in the insurance business, and served as a member of the SJU Board of Regents from 1989-2001.
“It was my first full year in the insurance business. At the time, a rep from our organization and a rep from the bank made calls jointly. So we worked the two-man approach. We were both pretty aggressive and we managed to write a lot of people in those days.
“Norm was so intelligent and he was a hard-charger. When he wanted something, he went after it and he’d usually end up being successful. But he was also such a generous and good person.
“And he was a great friend.”