John Elam McKinley, III

John E. McKinley, III

August 5, 1943 – June 7, 2026

John E. McKinley, III, a devoted family man and distinguished leader in the banking industry, passed away at the age of 82. Born in Decatur, Georgia, on August 5, 1943, John moved to Faison, North Carolina at the age of 5 where he spent his formative years.

He earned his BA from Davidson College in 1965, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity, and earned an MBA from the University of North Carolina. He was a long standing member of Trinity Presbyterian Church where he was an Elder.

While at Davidson College, John went through 4 years of Army ROTC. He went on to serve his country for two years in Germany as a First Lieutenant in the United States Army. In 1967 during officer training John was selected for Adjutant General’s Corp. John flew to Germany for his new assignment. In the greater Frankfurt area, where there were thousands of military personnel and their families, the Army operated movie theaters, teen centers, skating rinks, day care centers and sports programs for military kids–and a playhouse with live actors. The Army expected these operations to be self-supporting, but they were losing money. John was asked to run these operations, so at age 25 he found himself running a business and within four months John had the organization “in the black”. This is where John first learned his talent for engineering financial turnarounds- an early testament to what would be a defining gift of his career.

After separating from the Army, John spent 1969 to 1991 with Citizens and Southern National Bank and C&S/Sovran. He worked in various areas including commercial lending, branches, international banking and credit administration. At the time of the C&S/Sovran merger, he was the Chief Credit Officer of the C&S Georgia Corporation and a Senior Executive Vice President.

The year 1991 was one of John’s most memorable years. First, his step-dad, George Cates, who he was especially close to, died in March. Then in May, his wife Sue gave birth to their twin daughters. In July, John started working at Bank South–a bank on the brink of failure. His job was to fix problems brought about by bad loans that had almost destroyed the bank. At that time, Bank South was last in almost every category. Four years later, the bank was #1 in all those same categories. In just four years, the bank’s stock price rose from under $5.00 to $27.00 per share—a more than 500% increase in price. The turn around in Bank South’s fortunes was hailed by many as the “best turnaround in banking history!!”

While at Bank South, John held many roles of which he was very proud. He served as Principal Operating Officer, on the Board of Directors and the Policy Committee, and was Chairman of the Credit Policy Committee. He headed the Management Committee and had direct responsibility for Credit Policy, business banking, and mortgage banking.

His distinguished banking career spanned over four decades. A respected voice in his field, John authored numerous books and articles, taught at the Stonier and Midwestern Schools of Banking, and received the Award of Distinguished Service from Robert Morris Associates (RMA). McKinley served on the board of RMA and as the head of the Credit Policy Division and the Professional Development Division.

He eventually retired in 2014 as the Executive Chairman of The Brand Bank, now Renasant Bank. Upon his retirement, John reflected on his success with a characteristic humility, noting that "you are only as good as the people on whose shoulders you stand.”

Beyond the boardroom, John was a man of energy and discipline, known for his generous nature, his love of running and tennis, and, above all, his dedication to his family.

John’s motto, “Be the Best You Can Be”, was the driving force of all avenues of life- from tangible pursuits such as his career, military service, running, and his role as a father to the internal pursuit of strong values and integrity. John was loved and respected for his commitment to living a life of honesty, humility, kindness, non judgment. Despite reaching high recognition in his career at a young age, he chose to stop working for 15 years while his two daughters were growing up in order to pour his time and effort into being the best father he could be. Decisions like these highlight the character of a man whose actions were driven by integrity. His daughters have many memories filled with watching their father shag dance, returning home from school to have letters of life wisdom waiting on the kitchen counter, hiking the Colorado mountains, watching history documentaries and UNC Basketball, and listening to him tell stories of his childhood filled with adventures and humor. He balanced a sharp intelligence with light-hearted humor, serious work ethic with devotion to those he loved. Though clearly analytically gifted, he also had many creative pursuits from photography to creative writing and clever speeches for friends. It was his combination of intellect, creativity, compassion, and a deep commitment to “being the best he could be” towards all people that he met that led to his most important lasting impression on this world- that of a man who truly gave all that he could, who lived his values, and who approached each day with curiosity, dedication, humor and compassion.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 40 years, Sue Williamson McKinley; his twin daughters, Leigh Ann McKinley and Caroline McKinley Westphal; his son-in-law, Hastings Westphal, and his cherished grandchildren, Hayden and Reagan Westphal.

There will be a memorial service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (Dobbs Chapel), 3003 Howell Mill Rd, Atlanta on Monday, June 15th at 11AM followed by a reception in Williams Hall. For those who cannot join us in person, the service will be streamed

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the following:

Emory University

Office of Gift Accounting

1762 Clifton Road, Suite 2400

Atlanta, GA 30322

Please note the gift is to support Goizueta Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center or GADRC and indicate the gift is in memory of John McKinley, III.

For on-line gifts:

Emory University Goizueta Alzheimer's Disease Research Center: https://giving.emory.edu/products/goizueta-alz-research-general-gifts

Or www.giving.emory.edu and select Goizueta Alzheimer’s Research General Gifts

There is an option to make the gift in memory of John McKinley, III