Two Staff Members of Caldwell Trust and BGCSD Celebrate 25 Year Anniversary

April 26, 2022 – Sarasota

H. Lee Thacker Jr. and Suzanne Thacker are marking twenty-five years with Caldwell Trust Company and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties, along with Lee’s fifty years with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Venice-based Caldwell Trust Company recognized the milestones with a celebration on April 19, when the Thackers were honored by Caldwell board members and staff, executives from the Boys & Girls Clubs, and a representative from Operation Fly Our Flag.

Chad Evener, Florida chapter vice president of Operation Fly Our Flag, presented Lee with an American flag “to salute and honor a fellow navy serviceman.” R.G. “Kelly” Caldwell, Jr., Caldwell CEO/president, then donated a $25,000 check to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties in recognition of the Thackers’ contributions to both Caldwell and the B&GC. Bill Sadlo, B&GC president/CEO, and Michael Doyle, senior vice president of strategic initiatives, thanked Caldwell. Sadlo recognized Lee and Suzanne for their 25 years of service to Caldwell clients, and the local B&GC Clubs, which are part of Lee’s half-century of service to Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Sadlo has earmarked Caldwell’s donation for the Robert & Joan Lee Club in Venice because “that Club wouldn’t exist without the ongoing support of Lee and Suzanne Thacker.”

The relationship among the Thackers and Caldwell Trust Company resulted from coincidences of geography and philosophies. With happy memories of Florida, the Thackers decided to return and settled in Venice in 1996–just down the street from Caldwell’s first office. They were relocating after successful careers in trust and banking, coupled with a lifetime of community service, and immediately became involved with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County (now the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties).

Seeking a firm to oversee their investment needs, they read a newspaper article, “The House That Roland Built,” about Roland Caldwell and his new business, Caldwell Trust Company. They met with Roland and his son, Roland “Kelly” Caldwell Jr.—and their lives were changed forever.

Like the Caldwells, the Thackers had been discouraged by constant bank mergers and acquisitions. Like Roland, Lee started his own financial services firm, which he sold to chart a path in financial planning and investing. “I became very interested in estate planning,” he said.

The Thackers were so impressed with the two Rolands that they immediately became clients. It was mutual. Roland invited Lee to “hang out,” to see what his company was doing. Lee says, “I visited as a potential client and signed on as an employee as of January 1, 1997. Soon I was working pretty much full-time. I’ve never regretted it for a moment.” Suzanne was still working for an Atlanta financial software developer but soon became a consultant, designing the company’s first website. She joined Caldwell a few months after Lee as the company’s compliance coordinator.

They grew with the company. When they joined Caldwell, the business had ten employees, a tiny office, and $100 million in assets under management. Now the company has 33 employees, impressive office buildings in two cities, and $1.4 billion in assets under management.

Lee brought an economics degree from Duke University, certification from the Louisiana State University School of Banking of the South, designation as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), and experience acquired since 1959 with responsible positions in South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia.

While continuing as a trust officer at Caldwell, Lee advanced over the next quarter-century to become senior executive vice president, corporate secretary, and a member of the boards of directors of both Caldwell Trust Company and its parent, Trust Companies of America, all while serving on the executive, trust and security committees. In 2018, when the company reorganized into four business segments, he also took on management of all corporate matters.

Suzanne got into banking “by accident,” she said. After graduating from the University of South Carolina with a major in English and education, she “took the first job offered,” with the now-defunct First National Bank in Columbia, S.C. She completed its management training program and established its first documentation department. She next took over the documentation department of Policy Management Systems, an international property and casualty insurance software developer in South Carolina, then began a long association with software companies ranging from banks in Orlando to credit unions in Atlanta. As Caldwell’s compliance coordinator she analyzes, documents, and fulfills the regulatory reporting required by the State of Florida and the SEC.

The Thackers make time to help chosen organizations. In 2007 Lee began a two-year term as board president of Venice (Little) Theatre, which he considers “a major part of the community’s identity, one that allows more than 90,000 people each year to experience the special power of the arts.”

Their passion is for the Boys & Girls Clubs because “The Clubs save lives,” Lee said. “The most meaningful impact I can make is by helping a child realize their own greatness.” Since 1969, wherever his career took him, he has contributed untold hours of talent and, with Suzanne, made generous financial contributions, beginning in Columbia, S.C., where he was on the board for 12 years and became president. He also served on boards and was named “Board Member of the Year” in Orlando and Atlanta. He ultimately came to the B&G Clubs of Sarasota and Desoto Counties, where he has been on the board since 1996, was president (1999-2000), has always headed committees, and has received national and local acclaim from the Clubs.

With guidance from Lee and other board members, that organization now operates six freestanding clubs andfour schools, serving over 3,000 kids annually. He helped make the Lee Wetherington Club a reality and was instrumental in developing the Robert & Joan Lee Club, “my proudest accomplishment,” Lee said. Suzanne has been his irreplaceable partner along every step of the way—a capable, generous, and invaluable power couple.

Caldwell Trust Company is an independent trust company chartered in the state of Florida, with offices in Venice and Sarasota. Established in 1993, the firm currently manages over $1.5 billion in assets for clients throughout the United States. The company offers a full range of fiduciary services to individuals including services as trustee, custodian, investment adviser, financial manager and personal representative. Additionally, Caldwell manages 401(k) and 403(b) qualified retirement plans for employers. Long recognized for its family-oriented culture, its strong commitment to the highest ethical standards, and its conscientious corporate citizenship, Caldwell Trust Company has donated over $1 million to local nonprofit organizations whose missions align with the company’s culture.