Edward J. Zinsmeister

McAllen - Ed Zinsmeister lived life to the fullest and never met a stranger. Born and raised in San Antonio, he attended Central Catholic High School and graduated from St Mary's University in 1964 where he was a member of the Tau Delta Sigma Fraternity. He later received an advanced degree in banking from SMU. He began his banking career in 1959 as a part time teller. After graduating from St Mary's, he became a bank examiner for the Texas Dept of Banking. In 1968, Ed moved his family to Corpus Christi to work at Corpus Christi Bank and Trust. He took a break from banking to join the oil and gas industry as President of Tejas Oil and Gas. The collapse of the savings and loan industry lured him back into banking where he joined the Resolution Trust Corporation in 1989 to bring stability to the financial industry. That brought him to First City Bank in San Antonio where he oversaw their transfer to Chase Bank. His love for mentoring and growing the industry brought him to McAllen where he joined Rio Bank in 1999. He served as Executive Vice President until his retirement at age the 73. He continued serving on the Board of Directors until his death. Throughout his entire career he mentored and guided many young bankers to successful careers. In 2022, Ed was honored for his 50 years of service to the banking industry at the Texas Banker's Association annual meeting.

With his loving wife of 38 years, Sandi by his side, he passed peacefully at home on January 12 at the age of 83.

He was a loving father to Scott and Laura, a caring father-in-law to Diana and the proudest "Nacho" to his granddaughter Elie.

He was the son of Catherine and Edward Zinsmeister and brother of Kitty Horlen, Helen Dugosh (Kenneth), Rudy Zinsmeister (Trish),Carol Canion (Mike), Edna Geckler (Chris) and Michael (Maria) Zinsmeister.

Ed was always a generous supporter of the Boy Scouts of America and served on the Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society of McAllen and the Advisory Committee of the McAllen Chamber of Commerce.

He was also a huge cheerleader for CAMP University, a safe space for young adults with special needs to continue their education. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to support this special organization.

Campuniversity.org

A Celebration of Life for Ed will be at 2:00pm on Saturday, January 27, 2024 at the Rio Bank Event Center, 701 E. Expressway 83, McAllen, Texas.

Funeral Services are under the care of Kreidler Funeral Home, Inc., of McAllen.