Gary E. Cardenas

Gary was born on February 20, 1943, in the town of Baez, in Las Villas Province in Cuba. He immigrated to the United States in October of 1959, He and his brother followed the migration of their parents, who had already established residency in New Jersey in early 1958.

In April 1964, Gary joined the U.S. Army. Upon completion of his basic and advanced training in October 1964, he was assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 37th Armor, 4th Armored Division in Crailsheim, Germany. Although he only had achieved a 6th grade education in Cuba, and not 100% fluent in English, he was appointed as the training and operations clerk, and would eventually perform additional duties as Forward Air Controller, and would provide support to the Adjutant Department (S1) and the Intelligence Department (S2). For his achievements, he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal in May 1966, and was promoted to the rank of E-5 after only 18 months of service in his unit.

In June 1966, was transferred to Fort Bragg, North Carolina as part of a large nucleus of soldiers needed to establish the United States Training Center. The increased demand for additional soldiers to support our presence in Vietnam, prompted the need for this training center. He was assigned as Training and Operations NCO, and Public Information Officer for Headquarters Company, USATC, His responsibilities included preparation and administration of the Physical Training Program, the selection of visual aids and preparation of lesson plans for weekly Character Guidance classes presented by the Commanding Officer.

Prior to his discharge from active duty in April 1967, and with a desire to further his education, Gary was administered the High School GED battery of tests to determine his level of proficiency and knowledge. He passed every one of the five subject tests with very high scores. He was awarded his High School GED by the United States Armed Forces Institute, and later applied, and received his High School Equivalency Diploma from the state Board of Education in New Jersey.

Upon discharge from active duty in April 1967, Gary moved to Florida with his family. Gary’s goal was to apply for enrollment at UM and study law, a subject he developed an interest in while helping out the Adjutant Officer at his assignment in Germany.

Because the fall semester would not start until late August 1967, and at the suggestion of a female friend he knew from his days back in New Jersey, Gary decided to accept what he believed would be a temporary job at First National Bank of Miami (later Southeast Bank). Before the year ended, Gary discovered that this friend had actually grown up through her elementary school days together with the woman he would later marry. In fact, he met his future wife through a blind date arranged by a male friend of his, and his friend from work would not find out about this relationship until after they were engaged.

Although his educational background was limited to his High School GED, Gary quickly rose to become a supervisor in the trust operations division of this bank, and within two years was promoted to Trust Operations Officer and named assistant department head.

After 13 years of service, and many accomplishments, Gary decided to seek a better future at another local bank. In January 1980, was hired as Vice President and Trust Operations Officer at Pan American Bank of Miami. He was directly responsible for the selection and recommendation to the bank management of a new automated system for the trust department. Gary was directly responsible for the successful conversion to the new trust accounting system, and the eventual consolidation of trust operations from four other offices within the state of Florida into the Miami operations.

In August 1984, Gary was contacted by a local personnel recruiter to apply for a newly created officer position at another local bank with great growth potential, better benefits and at a higher salary. In October 1984, he accepted a position as 2^nd Vice President at Northern Trust Bank in Miami, and was responsible for the establishment of the Asset and Control department. The bank had been recently chartered, and had just changed its correspondent bank relationship. In addition to lack of controls, there were several unreconciled security transactions, and duplicate transfers of funds to customers and other financial institutions. Within six months, he was able to clear all outstanding transactions, and no losses were incurred by the bank. In 1985 he was promoted to Vice President and was given additional responsibilities as manager of Data Processing and as Telecommunications Manager for all Florida offices.

With a deep desire to further his education, Gary applied, and was accepted for admission to St. Thomas University in mid 1986. Between 1986 and 1995, and while holding his full-time job, Gary attended evening and weekend classes and saw his two sons graduate from High School and eventually college. He would also see his daughter, who had participated in the music gifted program since 4^th grade, join the Jazz and marching band of her High School. During this period, he served as the treasurer of the band parents association, responsible for organizing and participating in field trips, and fund-raising events. She graduated from High School in 1993, and later received her college degree in Music Therapy in 1997. Despite his own demanding schedule at work and, with his own college work, he always found the time to participate and help his children through their difficult days.

In August 1995, Gary graduated Cum Laude from St. Thomas University with dual degrees in Business Administration and Computer Information Systems.

In June 2004, following the merger of the Miami trust operations division into the parent’s bank system in Chicago. His only option to continue employment at the bank would have required him to relocate to Chicago. After 20 years of service, Gary chose to accept a severance package and retire from the bank.