Dade City may be best known for antiquing, some historic buildings and large shade trees draped with Spanish moss.
It's also developing a reputation for cultivating banking leaders.
Dade City banker Hjalma Johnson put the Pasco County city on bankers' maps five years ago when he was elected to a term as president of the American Bankers Association. That came after an active role in such institutions as the Florida Bankers Association.
Now, Lamar Roberts, president and CEO of the First National Bank of Pasco in Dade City, is to become the next president of the Florida Bankers Association. He'll be formally installed during the association's annual convention, which begins next week.
But the 63-year-old businessman would just as soon not talk about Johnson's legacy. "It would not be my wishes," he said. "I just care to stand on my own; I don't care to be compared to anybody."
Roberts' history in banking is impressive and extensive: bank officer at the age of 21; department head at 22; head of operations at 24; vice president at 25; bank director at 26; mayor and city judge at 28; bank president at 29.
He also is a director on the Independent Community Bankers Association of America, a group which, he points out, is bigger than the American Bankers Association.
