ZISSIMOS FRANGOPOULOS

1944 - 2020

FRANGOPOULOS--Zissimos A. Passed away as the result of a stroke on Saturday, December 19th, 2020. He was born at home in Athens, Greece during an air raid on December 16, 1944, the son of the late Thalia and Ioannis Frangopoulos. He graduated from Athens College in 1963, from Yale University in 1967, and Columbia University Graduate School of Business in 1969. Soon after, he started at Chemical Bank and stayed there while it merged with Manufacturers Hanover and then Chase Manhattan. He retired from Chase in 1999. While at Chemical he moved to London (1974--1979) to build and lead the successful Energy & Minerals Group Europe. He returned to London in 1981 to run Chemical Bank International Ltd. (CBIL), the flagship of Chemical Bank's merchant banking activities with offices in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and New York. On his return to New York in 1984 he became Finance Director and Treasurer of the Chemical Banking Corporation, responsible for Chemical's own mergers & acquisitions activities, regulatory relations, investor relations, equity and debt capital raising for the holding company. He worked with the Executive Team on all acquisitions and divestitures by Chemical Bank including transactions such as the merger with Texas Commerce Bank and Manufacturers Hanover. From 1993 he was Managing Director and Head of Financial Institutions Group and continued in that capacity until his retirement in December 1999. Moving to Chadds Ford, PA where they had a weekend house, he & his wife Ruthie renovated and added on to an old stone farmhouse. About the time that was completed he was asked to join the Board of Directors of Christiana Bank & Trust Company in Greenville, DE, becoming Chief Financial Officer. A year later he became President and CEO, successfully turning around the Bank's performance, restructuring the balance sheet, and putting in place strong risk controls. This realized a major gain for shareholders by negotiating the premium for the sale of the Bank. When Christiana was acquired by WSFS, Ziss served as a special advisor to the CEO on the integration of Christiana into WSFS Bank. Christiana is now the wealth management arm of WSFS. He was treasurer and then president of Vicmead Hunt Club. For 32 years Ziss was married to Ruthie Hoopes of Wilmington and Chadds Ford. He is survived his brother Karolos Frangopoulos of Athens, Greece, and his companion Jennifer Meadows. Ziss was a well-respected banker, a warm and personable man, intelligent and a wiz with numbers. He had a quick wit and a fun time entertaining. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, no service is planned at this time. Please send contributions in his memory to the charity of your choice.