William M. Crozier Jr., the longtime leader of what was once one of Massachusetts’ largest bank holding companies, has died at age 90.
Crozier, who led BayBanks Inc. for more than 20 years, died at his home in Wellesley on Feb. 21, according to a Legacy.com obituary that appeared in the Boston Globe.
After graduating from Harvard Business School in 1963, Crozier joined the bank holding company Baystate Corp. and became chairman and CEO in 1974, the obituary said. Renamed BayBanks Inc. soon after Crozier became leader, the holding company had about a dozen subsidiary banks, primarily consumer banks, including Newton-Waltham Bank and Trust Co., Harvard Trust Co., and Valley Bank and Trust Co.
Crozier and his leadership team began combining the subsidiary’s operations and modernizing facilities, the obituary said.
In 1976, the name “BayBank” was added to each subsidiary’s name, and a national bank, BayBank Boston, launched in 1978. Several of the subsidiaries merged under the name BayBank in 1991.
Under Crozier’s leadership, BayBanks Inc. became an early adopter of ATMs. The holding company grew from about $2 billion in assets in the mid -1970s to about $11 billion in 1995.
BayBanks during Crozier’s tenure was also involved in a precedent-setting 1990 decision by the Massachusetts Division of Banks to look at Community Reinvestment Act performance on the holding company level when considering petitions to the agency. BayBanks was also investigated by the Massachusetts attorney’s general office and reached a multi-million-dollar settlement in 1992 over the banks’ role in the state’s second-mortgage scandal.
Crozier and BayBanks’ board in late 1995 agreed to sell the company to Bank of Boston for $2 billion, creating BankBoston in 1996. Crozier retired as BankBoston’s chairman in 1997. BankBoston merged in 1999 with Fleet Bank, which was then acquired by Bank of America in 2004.
Crozier is survived by his wife of 59 years, Prudence Slitor Crozier, and their three children, Matthew Crozier, Abigail Crozier Nestlehutt and Patience Crozier, according to the obituary. A memorial service is scheduled for April 1 at 11:00 am at Boston’s Cathedral Church of Saint Paul.
