CIVIC LEADER SANDFORT LEAVES COMMUNITY FOR WEST PLAINS ASSIGNMENT

Cape Girardeau banker and civic leader Maurice R. "Moe" Sandfort has been named president of Boatmen's National Bank of West Plains.

Sandfort, who came to Cape Girardeau in October 1983 as president and chief executive officer of Centerre Bank, has been serving as executive vice president of Boatmen's Bank of Cape Girardeau since it acquired Centerre in a merger in December 1988.

"Sandfort was a key ingredient during the merger process here," said Jim Limbaugh, president of Boatmen's Bank. "His involvement during the merger was critical.

"Although it is in the best interests for the corporation, for Moe Sandfort and his family, our loss here will be West Plains' gain," said Limbaugh. "He will be working with a merger operation there which will create a $200 million bank. It's a great opportunity for everyone concerned."

Sandfort said his departure is bittersweet because he has enjoyed living and working in Cape Girardeau. However, he said he looks forward to his new career opportunity.

"Our affection for this community will be forever remembered," said Sandfort. "The community responded very openly and warmly to my family and me. It has been great. Except for this opportunity I felt we had to take, we would not be moving.

"A corporation is a dynamic entity and has needs just like people. It has a need right now and I felt like this was an opportunity I should not pass up."

Sandfort said he got a call about the job late last week and made his decision Tuesday. He will attend a board meeting of the bank in West Plains Thursday, when he will officially be elected to his new position.

"I hope to start winding down things I am committed to here, and in the meantime get to know people in the community of West Plains," noted Sandfort. "I hope to be there basically on a fulltime basis around the Fourth of July and hope to have my family moved by the time school starts."

Sandfort has been involved in several community and civic organizations since coming to Cape Girardeau.

He is currently serving as chairman of the St. Francis Medical Center Board of Directors, and president of the Rotary Club of Cape Girardeau. He has served as chairman of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Board of Directors, and has been active in the Southeast Missouri State University Foundation, serving as chairman of the group's Copper Dome Society.

He has also served as a corporate chairman of the United Way; and as a board member on the SEMO Council on the Arts and the Southeast Missouri Boy Scout Council.

Sandfort is a graduate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and attended Southeast Missouri State University two years. He is also a graduate of the Southwest Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Tex.

He and his wife, Patricia, are parents of six children.

Sandfort started his banking career at St. Charles, with the First State Bank, in 1965. He joined the Interstate Bank of St. Peters as president in 1979, and two years later joined Centerre Bank in Columbia as a senior vice president.

"There is no question I will miss the friendships that have been established," summed up Sandfort. "I'll miss being active in things like the Chamber, Scouting program, St. Francis Medical Center, and University ... those are things you can't quickly forget."

In West Plains, Sandfort anticipates being just as active in the community there as he was here. But he added, "I will keep my fond memories forever. I hope my new community is as warm as this one."