Ed Way: Unofficial ambassador for Jonesboro, NEA
By Roy Ockert Jr.
Feb. 21, 2015
When I decided about this time in 2001 to return to Jonesboro as editor of The Sun, the first person to welcome me back was Ed Way. He called my office in Russellville, almost before anyone there knew I would be leaving.
Ed was working for a startup called The Bank of Jonesboro, and he was, of course, soliciting business for his bank. But he was also fulfilling his unofficial role as an ambassador for Jonesboro and Northeast Arkansas, and he did that every day until cancer claimed his life last week much too early.
Ed probably got the early word of my transition because principals of my favorite Russellville bank had been partners with principals of The Bank of Jonesboro. which later evolved into Liberty Bank and then Centennial Bank. But Ed made the effort so it’s no accident that his bank got my business.
Actually, we already had a connection. He had known and worked with my father-in-law, the late J.Y. Montgomery, who had been a Jonesboro banker at the end of his career in the 1980s. And Ed had at least one great quality that reminded me of J.Y.: Neither of them ever met a stranger.
When I got here, all facilities of The Bank of Jonesboro were on Southwest Drive, which would soon be on my way to work. Ed and Wayne Wolfe, the bank’s director of business development, were among the first people I met, and they took me to lunch within a week or two of my first day on the job.
When Pat and I found a house, Ed put us in touch with the right person to arrange a “bridge loan” — so that we could close on the deal here while still trying to sell our house at Russellville.
It seemed like at least one of them would come out to greet me any time I walked into the bank, and that continued even after they moved into the much bigger building at Highland and Stadium. Probably most other customers of the bank could say the same thing. Ed and Wayne were the epitome of the “personal banker,” and they had a lot to do with the success of Liberty Bank (Wayne died in 2009, also in February).
More than that, though, Ed was a walking, talking one-man chamber of commerce. He loved his community and the people who live here, and it showed. In my years as editor he also became an important resource because if something important was going on, he was probably involved in it. And if he wasn’t, he knew who was.
He was as comfortable at the podium as he was at the back of the room. He didn’t just join organizations and community efforts; he got involved in them. He didn’t just talk about what needed to be done; he rolled up his sleeves and did the work. Whether that meant mowing grass, as Wallace Fowler recalled he did when Joe Mack Campbell Park was under development, or serving as chairman, Ed was hands-on.
People knew who to call when they needed something important done.
And even more remarkable was the fact that he did all this community work cheerfully, optimistically and with a caring spirit.
In Tuesday’s Sun employees of Centennial Bank published an ad with the theme, “Ed Way made a difference.” Afterward, other friends offered similar testimonies on Facebook and perhaps other social media. Here are just a few examples:
• Arkansas State University President Dr. Chuck Welch: “Ed Way made a difference in my life and made our university and community stronger.”
• Beth Smith, executive director of the ASU Alumni Association: “Ed Way made a difference in my life, in many lives.”
• June Bridger Morris: “Ed Way made a difference in my life. He always made you feel like you made a difference in his life.”
• Teresa Honeycutt: “Ed Way made a difference in my life on many levels. Somehow he always made time for all of us! He was such a wonderful man. A bridge-builder in the truest sense of the phrase.”
• Beverly Boals Gilbert: “Ed Way made a difference in my life. Ed helped recruit new faculty to the [ASU] Department of Elementary Education as it was known at that time. He went over and beyond assisting new faculty moving to ASU, and his sincere, kind, and generous spirit will be remembered by many.”
• Chuck Bari: “Ed Way made a difference in our lives. He molded and shaped us all. I only hope that we can do for our family and friends what he did for his.”
Hundreds of his friends and family members gathered in the spacious sanctuary of the Central Baptist Church for funeral services on Tuesday. Looking out over a crowd filled with business, civic and political leaders, Central’s senior pastor, Dr. Archie Mason pointed out that Ed made it a practice of investing in other people, of rejoicing in their successes. He urged those present to look closely at his life and learn from it.
Creating more ambassadors for the community will make his legacy even greater.
Roy Ockert is editor emeritus of The Jonesboro Sun. He may be reached by e-mail at royo@suddenlink.net.