Terrence Arthur Larsen

Larsen Terrence Arthur Born on September 12, 1946 in Chicago, IL was a distinguished Economist and Banking Executive, renowned for his visionary leadership as Chairman and CEO of Corestates Bank in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He passed away on August 30, 2025 in San Francisco, California. Terry Larsen earned his PhD in Economics from Texas A&M. In the mid 1980s he joined The Philadelphia National Bank, later Corestates Financial Corporation, as a junior economist. His leadership skills were demonstrated in the days immediately following the stock market collapse of 1987, after which he solved the Bank's mismanaged asset and liability position. Larsen's two successes impressed CEO G. Morris Dorrance enough that Larsen became his successor in 1988. The following year Larsen managed the acquisition of Phila. rival, First Pennsylvania Banking and Trust Company. In a December 1990 speech to officers he announced a corporate-wide culture change based on the principles of diversity and inclusion. This was one of the first such top-down corporate initiatives ever attempted by a major financial institution. He was very proud when the company hired and promoted qualified women and minorities into positions of authority, always maintaining an emphasis on performance, core values and teamwork. Terry Larsen was a strong believer that common cultures made for good banking mergers, and in 1992 said the best cultural fit with Corestates would be a New England bank, and in 1995 sought a $4.2 billion merger with Bank of Boston. Although hindsight might well have proved him correct, several bank analysts opposed the idea and talks broke down. A year later, Larsen negotiated the $4.2 billion acquisition of Meridian Banking Corporation. During the mid to late 1990s, Corestates was a highly profitable bank, with special strengths in wholesale banking and transaction processing, both domestically and internationally. In its last year, Corestates had the highest return on equity and assets of the top 25 US banks. Despite the numbers, bank analysts continued to demand more, touting the bank as an acquisition target. In the summer of 1998 Corestates was put in play by an unsolicited public offer from Mellon Bank, ultimately forcing a sale to First Union Corporation in November. While selling was certainly not Terry Larsen's wish, he negotiated the highest multiple of sales price to book value ever paid for a bank, at six times. During negotiations, his primary focus was the successful establishment of a $100 Foundation to benefit Philadelphia, and a $16 million fund for retraining displaced employees. Although named number three executive in the combined company, he resigned six weeks after final consummation of the merger in May 1999. Despite a challenging career Terry Larsen prioritized family first but also experienced personal sadness, losing his wife Marilyn of 35 years in 2003 to cancer and son Craig in 2022. After Marilyn's death, he moved to the the big island of Hawaii where he met Cammy Kelly. They were married in Rancho Santa Fe, CA in 2005. Although the two of them lived in a number of different places around the country, most of their time was spent in Rancho, Santa Fe, and Hawaii, which he often described as his "happy place". Up until shortly before his death, Cammy joined Terry in his greatest passion, playing the finest golf courses all over the world. Terry is survived by beloved wife Cammy Kelly Larsen, daughter Ashley, grandchildren Joshua, Jay and Sean Murphy, Elizabeth and Brooks Larsen, and five siblings Pat, Mary Grace, Karen, Chris and Louise.