As Mabrey Bank celebrates its centennial throughout 2024, the bank honors the Mabrey family by publishing unique features, narrating the history of the bank through the family’s words and stories. Please enjoy this feature, The Roots of Mabrey. To read our first Mabrey Messages feature story, The Matriarchs of Mabrey, click here.
On a remote ranch in southwest Oklahoma, a nine-year-old boy and his dad sat completely still in a train boxcar. Two generations of Mabrey men huddled, waiting on a flock of turkeys to come sidling up within range of the small .410 shotgun resting on the boy’s lap. Mark had never hunted turkey before, and in truth had no idea what to do even if he did manage to bag one.
It was the same situation that his dad, Bruce, found himself in as a young boy, decades prior. Back then it was a squirrel and a BB gun, but the circumstance was the same, a first-time hunter needing a lesson in cleaning game. Bruce learned it from his grandfather, Carlisle Mabrey, Sr., who ushered Bruce into the apartment, grabbed some newspaper and taught the boy how to properly clean the squirrel.
Now, one generation later in that old boxcar, Bruce had the opportunity to impart a similar lifelong memory onto his son, a mirrored moment that acutely reflected each man’s love for the outdoors. The once-novice became teacher as Bruce showed Mark the steps to dress the turkey.
“The turkey came out perfect,” said Bruce, fondly recalling the meal the pair shared that evening nearly 25 years earlier. The moment became memorialized in Mabrey family lore when Mark won a school award a drawing depicting the seminal event.
A love for the outdoors is just one of many ways that Mark has followed in his father’s footsteps in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the home of the Mabrey family and birthplace of Mabrey Bank. East Central Oklahoma is special to Bruce, Mark and the rest of the Mabreys, not just because of the family history, but the bond that they have formed with each community in the region.
“It’s relationships. It’s people. It’s family. We know families generationally where I have a relationship with the great grandparents, grandparents, parents and kids,” said Mark. “There’s a lot of that around here. It’s easy to trust people when you know four generations of their family. That’s the community feel that makes this area special.”
East Central Oklahoma was home to all the Mabreys until the mid-1990s when the family purchased controlling interest in Citizens Security Bank in Bixby. Given how large the acquisition was, Bruce’s eldest brother, Carlisle III, felt it was important to move to the Tulsa area to help manage the new bank. Meanwhile, Bruce and his family stayed in Okmulgee to oversee the banks in the East Central Oklahoma region, including locations in Morris, Muskogee, Haskell, Weleetka and Wetumka.
“[Okmulgee] is where we raised our children and this region has been a big part of our life,” said Bruce. “We always felt like our kids were in a good environment here, and we knew where they were. We knew their friends at school and their parents. I’ll be in Okmulgee for the rest of my days.”
Both Bruce and now Mark have poured into the region in many ways – from financial support to time spent volunteering and serving on Boards. It’s a lesson that has been passed down through generations of the Mabrey family and has been a particular focus for Bruce and his wife, Karen.
“What was taught to me by my mom and dad was to give back,” said Mark. “To serve your community. I teach that to my children. My kids see the effort that we put in to go to school board meetings and chamber meetings, to volunteer at the YMCA on Saturday mornings. They know I am gone for the right reasons. I hope that can hit home with them at some point when they think, ‘Dad’s doing good things.’”
Being an active leader in the community means more in the small towns that dot East Central Oklahoma. There is an expectation that banking leaders are community pillars. Bankers are trustworthy figures and are people of their word.
“We were always asked to sponsor organizations and volunteer at events,” said Bruce. “I was the president of the Okmulgee Chamber of Commerce and represented our district on the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission. I think that influence has carried through onto Mark. He now has my seat on the Wildlife Commission and is on the Morris School Board and the YMCA Board. Being involved in your community is the way I was raised, and we passed that on to Mark and Melanie both.”
Decades and generations of community involvement have been a critical cog in Mabrey Bank’s success and growth throughout the region. Mark estimates that north of 70 pct. of the business that Mabrey Bank generates in East Central Oklahoma can be attributed to team member involvement in community events.
“We are not a fly by the night bank,” said Mark. “This bank has been here for more than 100 years, and the expectation throughout our neck of the woods is that our people are going to do the right thing. If it’s me or one of our employees, we can be trusted with any decision. Even if it isn’t about banking necessarily. But, because of our relationships in the community that are so deep rooted, we can give a reference and help lead them to an answer.”
It has been a little over a year since Mark was promoted to East Central OK Regional President for Mabrey Bank, a role that allows him to oversee Mabrey’s footprint throughout East Central Oklahoma. Open spaces and lifelong friendships, both ever-present in rural middle America, are two of Mark’s passions and each speaks to the early success Mark has had as a Regional President.
“He’s done a bang-up job with everything he’s been involved in,” said Bruce. “You can tell that because people come back to him. If you are a hard worker and involved in your community, people will line up at your door. He’s really done an excellent job. I hear that from his cousins, from Scott (CEO) and Carlisle IV (COO), how good a job that Mark does. He knows what he’s doing.”
It’s no secret that in rural communities like those across East Central OK, population dwindles. As more and more move to metropolitan areas for jobs or income or entertainment, the blue on the collar of Small Town, USA pales in color and it becomes harder to see the Norman Rockwell version of Americana.
Mark sees his role at Mabrey Bank and his platform in the community as a way to help reverse course – to create and bring jobs and business to the region. He currently sits on the Board of the Okmulgee Area Development Corporation, a group leading the way to promote economic development in Okmulgee. The OADC focuses their efforts on recruiting new industries and businesses while encouraging and emphasizing K-12 STEM classes in Okmulgee County Schools.
“My hope is that I can in some way have an impact in growing business in our markets,” said Mark. “There are several younger individuals on our OADC Board that are involved in their families’ businesses or other entities in Okmulgee that are closer to my age. It’s exciting to see some new minds working together with an older generation to bring new ideas and a different perspective to further developing our region. We have plenty of land and two lakes here in Okmulgee for example, all less than twenty-five minutes from the greater Tulsa area. Specifically, there is a lot about Okmulgee that we need to do a better job of highlighting. Over the last several years, COVID has driven people out of the metro areas looking for more open spaces. This has given our East Central teams new opportunities to make new relationships.
