Ralph Emerson, 91, was a 'banker's banker'

Ralph Emerson, of Minneapolis, former head of the Central Northwestern National Bank of northeast Minneapolis, was a longtime banker and civic leader.

Emerson, whose bank became part of Norwest Banks, now Wells Fargo, died on Dec. 8 in Minneapolis of natural causes. The longtime New Brighton resident was 91.

"He was a banker's banker. He'd decide he liked somebody, intuition would tell him to make that loan, and he would do it," said Rep. Neil Peterson, R-Bloomington, a former executive at the bank.

Emerson made loans to Rose and Jim Totino to grow their pizza business, now a part of Pillsbury ,and to Earl Bakken of Pacemaker fame, the founder of Medtronic, well before they were household names, Peterson said. He lent seed money to St. Jude Medical and the old Cardiac Pacemaker Co., as well.

In 1935, Emerson began work at Minneapolis' Northwestern National Bank. After service in World War II, he returned to Northwestern National, rising to vice president at a related bank in 1957.

He landed at Central Northwestern National Bank in northeast Minneapolis in 1963. By 1966, he was president and from 1979 to 1981, CEO and chairman of the board.

Stan Stanek, of Bloomington, a former bank employee who now owns an electronics business, said his old boss "taught me that hard work and strong ethics will be recognized in business."

Emerson would attend employees' family celebrations. Long after the bank became part of a huge chain, those employees from northeast Minneapolis would hold reunions, with Emerson serving as the group's unspoken leader.

In 1956, Emerson headed the Minnesota Arthritis and Rheumatism campaign. He also served on the board of Minneapolis' YMCA and as president of Minneapolis' Lions Club.

Emerson, a tenor, sang in the bank group's choir and at Minneapolis' Mount Olivet Lutheran Church. At home, he, his wife and children formed a family band, according to a 1956 Minneapolis Star article that called them "full of musical talent."

He was a 1934 graduate of the old Marshall High School in Minneapolis. There, he played as a blocking halfback on the 1933 team, which won the Minneapolis conference championship.

He attended the University of Minnesota and was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin's School of Banking, Madison.