Retired CRB President & CEO Jack Hamilton’s Passing
It is with great sadness that we share the news of the unexpected passing on December 29, 2023 of retired Charles River Bank President & CEO John S. Hamilton, or as we all knew him, Jack. During his 20+ year tenure, Jack led our team through strategic changes that have made a positive, lasting impact on our bank, our customers, and our community.
In 2001, Jack took on the President & CEO role at Medway Cooperative Bank. Early on, Jack recognized the opportunity to expand our reach into more local communities. He led the bank through a name change to Charles River Bank in January 2009 and the creation of Charles River Bancorp, MHC. Those decisions supported our successful future financial stability and growth, which culminated in the opening of three additional offices in Bellingham, Mendon, and Medway High School. Jack focused on building of CRB’s commercial and residential lending portfolios, and expansion of product offerings and technology services. He brought state of the art banking design to our customers with a complete renovation of the Main Office in Medway, completed in time for the CRB’s 100th Anniversary celebration in 2015. Charles River Bank’s assets grew 3-fold under Jack’s leadership.
With his extensive industry knowledge and decisive tactics, Jack faced the challenges of the 2008/2009 financial crisis with aplomb. He more recently managed the Bank successfully through the 2020 Covid pandemic so CRB was prepared to assist customers remotely or safely in-branch with minimal impact to service.
Jack was very active in community organizations and industry groups. He served as a corporator and a member of the Golf Tournament Committee of Milford Regional Medical Center, as a former director of the Medway Foundation for Education, a founding member and director of Mendon-Upton Education Foundation, and former director of the Tri-County Chamber of Commerce. He was a board member of The Co-operative Central Bank (2006-2009), New England Association of Retail Lenders, New England Mortgage Insurance Exchange and New England Insurance Trust. He helped countless people obtain business and home loans, and always made sure that every possible avenue was explored to make a loan that made sense for the borrower and the bank, even if it didn’t seem possible at first.
To his CRB team members, Jack was a smart common sense leader with strategic vision, an incredible resource for all things banking related, with an open door policy. After his retirement as President & CEO on December 31, 2021, Jack continued to serve as director of Charles River Bank and a trustee of Charles River Bancorp, MHC.
Jack was an avid golfer and enjoyed fishing. He was passionate about playing and collecting guitars. Jack loved all dogs, especially Rhodesian Ridgebacks, which he raised and showed competitively. The Charles River Bank family offers our sincerest condolences to his wife Trish, brother Peter Hamilton, sister Linda Dolan, his family and many friends.
Details regarding Jack’s memorial service can be found here:
https://www.edwardsmemorialfuneralhome.com/obituary/John-Hamilton
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