Larry Willard

Larry Willard, long-time president and chief executive officer of Wells Fargo New Mexico and West Texas, died on February 24 in Midland, Texas. Mr. Willard was 78.

Larry served as president of the New Mexico Bankers Association in 1993-94 and on the NMBA Board of Directors for 20 years. He was described by friends as a visionary, mentor, philanthropist, education and literacy advocate, agent for change and a tireless civic leader. “Larry was committed to making New Mexico a better place to live as much as anybody I ever knew and was one of the most positively impactful leaders New Mexico has had in recent memory,” said friend Steve Moise, the state’s investment officer. “He worked to improve our educational system and our business climate and wanted every child to have the opportunity to receive a quality education, get a good job and move up the economic ladder.”

As part of that goal, Willard endowed several libraries, including the Willard Reading Room at the University of New Mexico Zimmerman Library and the Gerald and Betty Ford Library at the Bosque School. Jessie Barrie, head of the Bosque School, said Willard was one of the school’s earliest supporters, donating money for student financial aid and providing funds for the school’s library, the Wells Fargo Conference Room and the Willard Room, a community learning and study space.

Willard was a former president of the UNM Board of Regents and chaired Albuquerque Economic Development and the Kirtland Partnership Committee. He also served on the boards of the Downtown Action Committee, Kirtland AFB Retention Task Force, Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, Economic Forum of Albuquerque, Albuquerque Community Foundation, United Way of Central New Mexico, New Mexico Educational Assistance Foundation, Boy Scouts, Governor’s Business Advisory Council, New Mexico Bankers Association, UNM Hospital board of trustees, UNM’s Anderson School of Management, Albuquerque Academy and Special Olympics New Mexico.

Willard grew up in Roswell. After graduating from Roswell High School in 1960, Willard earned a degree in accounting and finance from Eastern New Mexico University. He then completed graduate school programs in banking and commercial lending at the University of Colorado and the University of Oklahoma.

Current UNM Board of Regents President Doug Brown called Willard “the essence of the best of community bankers,” who supported community projects with personal and corporate financial donations and served as an example of “an outstanding citizen.”

Beyond Willard’s personal and corporate financial support, Dr. Cheryl Willman, director and CEO of UNM’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, said Willard was “pivotal for me in thinking about how to structure the cancer center from a successful business model, and how to integrate it with our community,” she said.

Willard helped her form and chaired the center’s first community advisory board. He convinced her to speak publicly about why building a nationally recognized cancer center was not only good for patient care and meeting the needs of cancer patients in New Mexico, but also why it was important for economic and business development. In the last five years, research conducted at the cancer center has resulted in 173 patents and 10 biotech company start-ups.

A private family service was held in early March in Midland.