By Rick Rothacker
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - The former chief executive officer of Wachovia bank, John Medlin Jr, who guided the North Carolina institution's expansion into neighboring states while preserving its reputation as a conservative Tiffany of banks, died on Thursday.
Medlin, 78, suffered a heart attack while playing tennis in North Carolina, said Nancy Lovelace, a former Wachovia head of corporate communications.
"Our mantra was soundness, profitability and growth in that order of priority," Medlin, who retired as CEO at the end of 1993 after 17 years, once said.
The native of Benson, North Carolina, joined the bank in 1959 out of the U.S. Navy, where he was a paymaster aboard a submarine support ship. By 1977, he had been named CEO.
Medlin forged acquisitions in Georgia and South Carolina as U.S. banks were breaking down laws against crossing over state lines. But the Winston-Salem-based bank did not grow as rapidly as state rivals in Charlotte, including Bank of America Corp
"We did not have a go-go, keep up with the Joneses worldview," he later said. "Being in Winston-Salem, you didn't look across the street and see someone building a bigger building."
After retiring as CEO, Medlin served as non-executive chairman of the board from 1994 to 1998. He stepped down as a director in 2000.
In 2008, Wachovia faltered in the financial crisis and was acquired by San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co
"John Medlin was long known to me as an incredible, wise, bigger-than-life leader of the financial services industry," Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf said in a statement.
"He played a huge role in building a top financial institution in Wachovia bank. In the past few years, I had the honor of getting to know John personally and benefit from his wisdom, humor and unfailing kindness."
(Editing by Vicki Allen)
