MONEY

Q&A with Sarah Reese Wallace

Kent Mallett
Reporter

NEWARK – Sarah Reese Wallace, chairwoman of First Federal Savings and Loan, speaks with a heartfelt dedication to her job and her work with the Thomas J. Evans Foundation.

The busy community and business leader remains involved in a host of local organizations, but the Evans Foundation is a labor of love.

The chairwoman of the Evans Foundation board continues in the philanthropic footsteps of her father, Gib Reese, former foundation chairman.

"I get a lot of personal satisfaction from it," Wallace said. "We can help a lot of different entities. It's a community investment institution."

The first 30 years of her 35 years with the foundation, her father was running the show. Now, she's the one continuing the tradition.

"It's a huge time commitment," Wallace said. "For me, the biggest challenge is balancing different priorities in my life. But the Evans Foundation is right at the top of the things I worry about and think about on a daily basis."

Wallace also is a board member with Central Ohio Technical College, DePauw University (Greencastle, Indiana), A Call To College, Newark Campus Development Fund, and director of Freight Service and Midway Truck and Trailer.

She started with First Federal and the foundation in 1980. She also has served on the boards of Park National Corporation, Licking County Foundation, Newark City Schools and the Newark Area Chamber of Commerce.

Seriously ...

Q.What do you enjoy most about your job?

A. "I love the people here. I've worked with a lot of these people for decades. And, one thing I've enjoyed now is working with a group of younger people who are terrific, bringing in young ideas and initiatives."

Q.What are you most proud of about this company?

A. "This company has been here since 1934, and we are one of the most carefully managed financial institutions. We're not catering to huge companies. We're catering to Main Street, and it will always be our niche."

Q.What has been the biggest challenge in leading this company?

A. "I would say changes in the regulatory environment over the years. In the '70s, we had a lot more flexibility. We were allowed to use more judgment than we are allowed to today, because big Wall Street firms have made bad decisions."

Q.What would you like people to know about this company they may not know?

A. "I'd love people to know we provide the high-tech services that the big banks do. We have everything a family would need."

Q.What would you like people to know about The Evans Foundation?

A. "I think it's important for the community to know what what our niche is, and our niche is to serve the nonprofit sector, and provide them a place to live. That serves as the foundation of what we do — provide nonprofits a place to hang their shingle"

On the lighter side ...

Q.What is your favorite movie?

A. "My Fair Lady"

Q.What is your favorite book?

A. "Gone With The Wind"

Q.Who is your favorite actor or actress?

A. Audrey Hepburn

Q.Who is your favorite musician or entertainer?

A. New York Philharmonic

Q.What is your favorite sport or activity?

A. Playing the piano

Q.What is your favorite sport to watch?

A. Swimming at the Olympics

Q.Who is the person you most admire in your life?

A. My dad (Gib Reese), and the late Robert Duncan (the first black person on the Ohio Supreme Court)

Q.What is your favorite vacation destination?

A. New York

Q.If you could be in any other job or field, what would it be?

A. Physician

Q.What was your favorite class in high school?

A. Western Civilization history class

Q.What was your least favorite class in high school?

A. Chemistry

kmallett@newark

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