Between the time when John Meacham Jr. retired from his active involvement at First Security Bank and his death on Wednesday, another generation has come along who may not be aware of his pivotal role in this community during the latter half of the 20th Century.

That’s a price one pays for longevity. By the time you die you’ve outlived most of the eye witnesses.

But I think that it’s a fair assessment to state that John Meacham made many in this community rich. Not rich in a glitzy, lottery-jackpot-winner sense, but with a grounded, gradual  increase of worth spread generously throughout the community.

After World War II, a handful of community leaders understood that the postwar years in this country were going to be different from the lean years of Depression that had preceded the war. They shared a vision that a new bank with progressive lending policies could help Panola County take part in the coming prosperity.

Meacham joined that group in 1958, leaving a private CPA practice to become the Batesville Security Bank’s manager and cashier. He was an excellent fit for the shared vision: cautiously conservative in his stewardship of other people’s money but aware that in order for the community to grow the bank must be willing to accept reasonable risks.

That balanced approach helped to launch the bank and community into a half century of solid economic expansion that continues today. It also continuously increased the value of the bank’s stock with annual dividends and stock splits that spread the wealth among stockholders who represented a broad cross-section of the community, generating small but comfortable fortunes for many families.

Lest the foregoing paragraphs leave an impression that Meacham’s dimension was limited to the financial affairs in this community, it should be mentioned that he was active in anything going on in Batesville that he perceived to be in the interest of promoting the quality of life among us, from his church to the chamber of commerce to civic clubs.

He was also a family man. With his beloved wife, Hope, he raised two lovely daughters whose progeny extends now to a third generation, a legacy of which he was proud. When Hope’s health failed during her last years, he proved himself her loving caregiver.

Meacham sought no limelight. When the time came for a photo of some group in whose accomplishment he had played a key role, he was always inconspicuously reticent, sometimes having to be coaxed from behind the taller person in front of him behind whose head he was hidden from the camera’s view.

That was his style. By the time a project was sufficiently near fruition for public announcement, his behind-the-scenes work — gently coaxing others to work together, building a consensus among disparate interests  — was done and he was ready to move on to the next project.
Meacham didn’t much care who got the credit. He wanted it spread around generously. Others learned from him, that working together the community could overcome obstacles and get great things done — as long as nobody was overly concerned about who gets the credit.