Thursday, March 30, 2000
Banker, school reformer Clement Buenger dead at 73
Helped to build community along with his business
BY CLIFF PEALE and JEFF MCKINNEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Buenger
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From installing a sales culture that made Fifth Third Bank one of the nation's top-performing banks to a groundbreaking 1991 study of Cincinnati's pub lic-school system, Clement Buenger put his hometown on the leading edge of reform.
The Fort Thomas native, a longtime Fifth Third Bancorp executive, died Wednesday morning at age 73 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease for several years. In a direct, sometimes imposing style, “Clem” left a legacy of community involvement and a dusk-to-dawn work ethic.
“Some people thought that he was gruff and everything, but I thought he was great,” said Paul Bernish, the former Kroger Co. executive who helped write the Buenger Commission report on the Cincinnati Public Schools in 1991. The report led to a series of reforms.
“He was extremely down to earth for the head of a major company, and he was entirely at ease dealing with all types of people.”
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BUENGER BIO
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• Born: April 27, 1926.
• Married: To Ann McCabe. They had no children.
• Education: Graduated from Xavier University in 1950.
• Military: Served in the Navy 1944-46.
• Career: Worked in the insurance industry in 1946-69; joined Fifth Third Bank in 1969; promoted to president and chief operating officer in 1979; became chairman of the board of directors in 1989 and served until 1993.
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FUNERAL SERVICES
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• George H. Rohde & SonFuneral Home, Mount Lookout, will be serving the family.
• A Mass of Christian burial will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Xavier Church, 607 Sycamore St., downtown.
• No visitation is planned.
• Memorials can be made to the Buenger Scholarship Funds at St. Xavier High School and Xavier University and the Fund for Independent Schools of Cincinnati.
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Mr. Buenger was part of a generation of local business leaders that made community involvement a priority, friends and colleagues said Wednesday. That generation helped build downtown Cincinnati and raise the entire region's profile in the national economy.
“They just don't grow them like Clem anymore,” said John Williams, president of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, of which Mr. Buenger was chairman in 1991. “He was always asking for money, he was always giving money, he was always supportive.”
Mr. Bernish remembered one meeting shortly before the Buenger Commission report was released, when some committee members, including chief executives of some of the city's major companies, argued for making the final draft less critical.
“Clem sat there, kind of like the judge, listened to everyone, and said, "Nope, I think it's right,'” Mr. Bernish recalled. “And that was the end of the discussion.”
Few companies helped define the Cincinnati business community like Fifth Third, which established an admirable record of efficiency and profitability and has remained Cincinnati's flagship bank.
During his tenure as either chairman, president or chief executive officer from 1979 to 1993, Fifth Third grew to more than $12 billion in assets from $1.1 billion and to almost 300 branches.
More important, Mr. Buenger was a pioneer in developing strategies that fueled Fifth Third's growth and profitability and set it apart from other U.S. banks. Those efforts included implementing an aggressive sales culture, hard-work ethic and branches inside grocery stores.
Fred Cummings, a banking analyst at McDonald Investments Inc. of Cleveland, said Mr. Buenger spearheaded a sales culture that has made Fifth Third a highly regarded bank.
He also said Mr. Buenger was largely responsible for developing a philosophy at Fifth Third that most banks envy: Expand revenues faster than expenses and create double-digit annual earnings growth.
“He was a conservative banker, but the one that instilled the sales culture and hard work ethic that even today differentiates Fifth Third from most of the nation's banks,” Mr. Cummings said.
That culture has paid off for Fifth Third and its investors.
The bank had a market value of $97 million when Mr. Buenger became its president in 1979. Its market value soared to $3.3 billion during his last year as the bank chairman in 1993. As of Wednesday, Fifth Third's market value was $20 billion.
The bank also has grown physically, now operating about 645 branches in seven states with assets of $42 billion.
George A. Schaefer Jr., Fifth Third's president and chief executive, said Mr. Buenger left an indelible mark on the bank.
Mr. Buenger, he said, promoted the idea that bankers needed to work hard. He ordered Fifth Third bankers to visit 25 customers a month, vs. waiting for people to walk up to their desk with requests.
Mr. Schaefer said Fifth Third still implements that across its key lines of businesses today. Mr. Buenger also was responsible for Fifth Third's monthly “Shoe Leather Award,” a pair of expensive new shoes to the employee with the most sales calls.
“He was the hardest working guy I knew,” Mr. Schaefer said. “When he wasn't working in the bank, he was working in the community.”
To many in Greater Cincinnati outside of the banking community, Mr. Buenger's legacy will come from community involvement that included a heavy dose of activities for children and schools.
Bill Keating, former Enquirer publisher and 18-year Fifth Third board member, said he met Mr. Buenger when both were students at St. Xavier High School.
Mr. Buenger “never, ever, forgot a friend,” Mr. Keating said.
“He instilled in people the will to work hard, to be loyal, to be disciplined,” Mr. Keating said. “He was a good leader.”
Business leaders also remember Mr. Buenger as someone who cared greatly about his family and community.
Mr. Buenger and his wife, Ann, who survives, had no children, so they immersed themselves in causes benefiting young people. He served for many years on the board of the Boys-Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati. In honor of that service, the organization in 1996 named a $1.6 million center in Newport for Clem and Ann Buenger.
Fifth Third Bank gave $150,000 for the project, and it was the involvement of the Buengers and the bank that helped raise money for the club, said Walter Cottongim, associate executive director. The Buenger Club serves 150 children a day in tutoring and sports programs.
Mr. Buenger also served for many years on the board of his alma mater, Xavier University. The school's president, the Rev. James E. Hoff, said, “He was indeed enormously dedicated to the university,” so much so that the university changed its charter.
It created the title “trustee emeritus” to allow Messrs. Buenger and Keating to remain on the board after their allowable terms had expired.
“He was so generous with his time and expertise and resources,” said Father Hoff, who will co-officiate the funeral mass Saturday.
John J. Byczkowski contributed to this report.
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