Savings, loans and legacies: Sally Wallace Heckman (MBA ’09)

Pressure to join a family business often can be immense, but Sally Wallace Heckman never felt this burden. In fact, she got as far away from banking as possible, eventually earning an undergraduate degree in French.

But the underlying passion for banking was always in her blood.

As president and CEO of First Federal Savings in Newark, Ohio, Sally (MBA ’09) leads one of the most recognizable financial institutions in the region. She’s part trailblazer and the fourth-generation leader of a business that her great-grandfather, Everett D. Reese, began 91 years ago.

“This is a huge privilege for me to run the bank that my great-grandfather began,” Sally says. “A lot of folks in Licking County still talk about Ev, how smart and charismatic he was, and how, when he set up the bank, he ensured it would last a long time.”

Finding her family’s footsteps

Despite growing up in the shadow of three generations of banking pioneers, Sally says she never felt pulled toward the family business. She graduated from DePauw University with a degree in French, but not before gravitating back to a familiar language: business.

“I took economics 101 in college, and while it was really hard, I found that I loved it,” Sally says. “I also took accounting and business management and really felt like I had found my niche.”

Econ, accounting and business, after all, were second languages for the family.

Everett founded First Federal Savings in 1934 and served as president and board chair for nearly 40 years. His son, J. Gilbert “Gib” Reese, joined the bank as director in 1960 and eventually succeeded his father as chairman from 1969 to 1999.

Sarah Reese Wallace, Everett’s granddaughter and Sally’s mother, became president in 1983 and held that title until 1999 when she was named board chair ― a position she still holds today.

After graduating from DePauw, Sally took her first step into a career in banking, not at First Federal, but as a branch manager at Park National Bank in Newark. There, she built a solid foundation by learning all aspects of the business ― from customer service as a teller, to human resources to understanding retail and mortgage banking.

“Both my mom and grandfather, whom I call ‘Big Gib,’ advised getting into a management and training program so I could see all the functions of banking before deciding if it was right for me,” Sally says. “After being a teller for six months and rotating through mortgage backing and serving as a branch manager for two years, I realized I needed more technical training. That’s when I decided to get an MBA.”

Like her decision to join the family business, her choice of graduate school was her own ― despite the fact that Everett earned a business degree from Ohio State in 1919, and Gib graduated with a BA in 1949 and a law degree in 1952.

“Big Gib told me to go for my undergraduate degree wherever I wanted and to get top grades,” she says. “When it came to getting a graduate degree, he said to go to the best graduate school I could attend. For me, that was Fisher and Ohio State.”

She graduated in 2009 and again explored careers outside of banking, first as an intern at Paul Werth Associates, a public relations and marketing agency, then as an associate director of recruitment for SC search consultants, llc, an executive search firm now known as BeecherHill.

In 2012, her desire to return to the banking industry was reignited when the president of First Federal Savings said they were looking for a vice president of human resources.

“I was excited to lead the human resources department where I was able to shape the direction of employee relations, including helping long-term individuals who were retiring and hiring new employees in their place,” Sally says. “I was able to take everything I learned at SC search consultants and apply it to First Federal.

Since arriving at First Federal, she has climbed to other leadership positions, including executive vice president (2019-2022), chief operating officer (2022) and president and CEO in 2022.

“First Federal has been a wonderful fit for me; it’s a small institution with a big heart for community and philanthropy,” she says. “The people I work with are second to none.”

Blazing a path for women in banking

Sally credits her great-grandfather and grandfather for building the foundation of First Federal, but she draws the most inspiration from her mother, Sarah.

In 1983, at the age of 29 and while pregnant with Sally, Sarah was named president of First Federal Savings ― the first woman to that position. Fallout from the decision was swift: the bank’s entire senior management team quit. Despite the defections, having to manage the Savings and Loan (S&L) Crisis of the 1980’s, high inflation and a prime mortgage rate of 20%, Sarah rebuilt a leadership staff that bought into her vision for the bank.

As a woman in a predominantly male industry, Sarah was recognized for her efforts. Following the S&L Crisis, she joined the Thrift Institutions Advisory Council led nationally by Paul Volcker, the chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. She served on the committee for three years.

Grateful for pioneers such as her mom, Sally says their efforts have resulted in a growth of women in leadership that she’s seen since joining the bank in 2012.

“I used to walk into a conference room and maybe 10% of the people at the table were women,” Sally says. “Now, I can walk into a room and it seems more balanced with 33% of women sitting at the table. I, and other women like me, owe it to the women who came before us.”

A legacy of philanthropy

Beyond the bank’s long-storied history of helping Newark residents obtain mortgages and save for their futures, the Reese family has also been influential in impacting the broader community through its philanthropic efforts.

Sally, along with Sarah, serves on two family foundations ― the Thomas J. Evans Foundation and The Gilbert Reese Foundation ― that have shaped the area. The foundations have supported:

• the construction of 45 miles of bike paths in and around Newark
• access to educational, cultural and recreational programs and activities and interactive public art installations
• scholarships that support students at The Ohio State University at Newark and Central Ohio Technical College (COTC).

The family’s greatest legacy, however, is perhaps its work helping to establish Ohio State-Newark. In 1957, Gib and his friend and fellow philanthropist Howard LeFevre saw a need for greater access to affordable higher education in the Newark area. Working in partnership with Ohio State, collegiate classes began to be offered at Newark High School.

Beginning in 1966, Reese and LeFevre helped rally more than 7,000 community members to pledge more than $1 million to establish a state-owned building for The Ohio State University’s Newark branch. In 1968, Founders Hall opened its doors, making day and evening classes available for local students. By 1971, Reese and LeFevre recognized the need for technical education and established the Central Ohio Technical College, sharing the campus with Ohio State-Newark. In 2024, the building was renovated and renamed Louella Hodges Reese Hall, in honor of Gib’s wife and her longstanding support of the Newark campus and higher education.

Among the family’s other contributions to Ohio State-Newark:

• The John Gilbert Reese Center, a technology center created in 2003 as part of a $10 million campaign
• In 2010 Gib and Louella established the $10 million “Next Generation Challenge” to grow endowed scholarships for students attending Ohio State-Newark and COTC, raising nearly $21 million, the most successful fundraising campaign in the campus’ history
• The Martha Grace Reese Amphitheater, which allows opportunities for large community gatherings such as the Independence Day concert and fireworks
• The Everett D. Reese Scholarship, which benefits students from Licking County with demonstrated academic success and financial need and two John Gilbert Reese Scholarships for local students and single parents.

The family’s influence reaches beyond the Newark area to Ohio State’s main campus as well, making a lasting impact at Fisher and those who support the Buckeye community.

Since 1996, Finance Professor René Stulz has held the Everett D. Reese Chair of Banking and Monetary Economics at Fisher. And the Reese Medal was established in 1984 as the university’s highest honor recognizing exceptional service in private philanthropy.

“In our family there is a culture of giving,” Sally says. “We look at how, as a community, we can get something done. When funding a project, the foundations provide part of the monies needed and ask the community to raise the rest. This ensures that we are coming together as a community to accomplish great things, like Ohio State’s Newark Campus and COTC, bike paths, the Hartford fairgrounds and community gathering centers.”