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he lived the discipline of a football scholarship at State where he was elected to the Student Executive Council.
He interrupted college and enlisted in the Army in World War II. ¥ or nearly four years he lived the life of a soldier in the fields of France.
Unpretentious would describe Leo Seal. His touch with everyone he meets is the same, from high government officials and corporate executives to longshoremen at the Port, he is known simply as “Leo.”
On the streets at home it is common to observe workmen in overalls who call him by his first name. No “Mr. Seal” for this man—his name is Leo.
Leo Seal is a paradox when it comes to money. It has been said that Leo is pretty close with a dollar. True. He does watch his own money and the depositors’ money with the tenacity of a Scotchman. He’ll low'er the car windows on a round trip to Jackson to avoid running the air conditioner so he can save a dollar on better gas mileage and then he will reach in his pocket and personally contribute $5,000 or $10,000 or more to a worthy cause.
Generous beyond belief, he spends very little on himself but his financial support to hundreds of organizations is legend—almost always anonymously. Several individuals have received college educations because of him, a fact known only to Leo and the person involved. Churches of every denomination feel his support annually.
He not only does not seek credit for the things he does, he shuns it. Leo works hard and he plays hard. Long, long hours for both the bank and the community characterize his daily life. His fun comes from his family, fishing, boating, golfing, sailing, Mardi Gras, football and other sports and from his “zest for life.”
A busy man who always has time for people, as CEO of Hancock Bank, his door is open to the newest employee at all times. No detail at the bank escapes Leo’s attention. His philosophy is to always look to the favorable side of a person and to play down their faults. He calls it “building on a person’s strengths.” It is Leo’s personal principle of management. Perhaps that is why one out of five of our employees (20 percent) have been with Hancock Bank for over fifteen years. Why one out of twelve have been with us for nearly a quarter of a century.
LEO W. SEAL, SR., SERVED AS PRESIDENT OF HANCOCK BANK FROM 193 2 UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1963. HIS SON, LEO, JR., WAS NAMED THF. HANK’S FIFTH PRESIDENT IN I 963, A POSITION HE STILL HOLDS
Inside the bank we refer to ourselves as a family. Those of us who have been around a while considered Leo Seal, Sr., as the head of the family and Leo, Jr., like a brother—that pretty much characterizes his style of leadership—a big brother who is always there beside us as a true friend.
Members and guests of Newcomen, we present Hancock Bank and Leo W. Seal, Jr.