RETIRED banker, Donald Addison Banks, died yesterday morning at the Andrews Memorial Hospital in Kingston at the age of 69.

The Observer was unable to determine the cause of Banks’ death, however, a source said that the former National Commercial Bank (NCB) managing director, “was very sick”.

Yesterday, veteran politician, Pearnel Charles, remembered Banks as a man who had a deep desire to help poor Jamaicans improve their lives.

“He was always concerned about the economy and people in rural areas in particular,” said Charles, who met Banks after he retired in the mid-1990s.

“In my discussions with him, I was always impressed with his interest in the average Jamaican and his conviction that they should enjoy a better life,” said Charles. “His interest in Jamaica cannot be measured, I mourn with his family.”

Retired journalist and Observer columnist, Ken Chaplin, described Banks as “a banker extraordinaire”.

“He showed remarkable interest in customer relations. He helped to give financial assistance to local businessmen at a time when it was difficult for black business persons to get loans,” said Chaplin, who knew Banks since he was a teenager.

According to Chaplin, Banks’ career flourished in the 1960s after he started out at Barclay’s Bank International Limited which later became NCB.

“He came into his own during the Jamaicanisation of the local banking system in the 1960s,” said Chaplin.

Banks supervised junior staff at Barclay’s Bank International Limited from 1962 to 1964 before going on to manage its Duke Street branch for another four years. The start of 1970s saw him working at the Eastern and Western Caribbean head offices of the bank as the director’s assistant. He was later to become the Western Caribbean director in 1972. After a year in this post, he moved on to become the deputy managing director of NCB Jamaica. Within five years, he had been promoted to managing director, a post in which he served for 13 years.

In 1990, he became director of the NCB Group Limited and served until 1994.

“He was very humble and unassuming. You would never know that he was the managing director of a bank,” Chaplin said. “He was also very popular with his staff.”

Banks also served as chairman of the Caribbean Home Insurance Company Limited and the Jamaica Unit Trust. Chaplin also remembered Banks as a good sportsman who played cricket and football.

“He played football for his old school, Wolmer’s in the Manning Cup. He was also on the winning Sunlight Cup cricket team at one point,” Chaplin said.

He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Marguerite Royes and three sons.