Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series examining the significance of the Nehring Cultural and Tourism Center.

Following a national trend of consolidation in the banking industry, Castle Bank is no longer locally owned.

CastleBanc Group, a small DeKalb-based network of banks, has been purchased by the First National Bank of Nebraska.

The 11 branches of Castle Bank in the northern Illinois region will continue operating under the same name.

With the purchase of Castle Bank, the CastleBanc Group holding company has ceased to exist and has had several changes on its board of directors. John W. Castle has stepped down from the chairmanship, though he remains on the board, and NIU President John Peters has joined the board.

The name relates to the Castle family, said Tim Struthers, regional president of Castle Bank’s two bank branches in DeKalb and Sycamore.

The name was changed to Castle Bank, NA in June of 2000, 16 years after John W. Castle’s holding company CastleBanc Group acquired the First National Bank in DeKalb from the Nehring-Meier family in 1984, he added.

Castle’s family had founded Sandwich State Bank in 1856, and after Castle formed CastleBanc Group in DeKalb to purchase First National, he merged Sandwich State Bank with First National and became chairman of the organization, Struthers explained.

The acquisition took place Jan. 31.

“We believe the affiliation with First National will bring important benefits to our customers,” a Castle Sept. 10 press release reads. “First National’s community banking strategy allows Castle Bank to continue to fulfill our customers’ needs, while providing additional benefits in the form of greater financial resources to accommodate additional lending, greater technological sophistication and an extended product line.

“Equally importantly, it retains the accessibility to decision makers that our business, agricultural, and individual customers value.”

When the acquisition was announced Sept. 10, CastleBanc Group disclosed that as of June 30, 2001, Castle Bank had total assets of $579 million, total deposits of $510 million and stockholders’ equity of $46 million.

In the same press release, Bruce R. Lauritzen, board chairman for First National of Nebraska Inc., described his institution as the “parent company for 10 independently operated community banks and a mortgage company serving customers in Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, South Dakota, Arizona and Texas.

First National is also a leading company in bank credit card issuance, merchant processing and automated clearinghouse processing.”

As of June 30, 2001, First National reported total assets of $9.5 billion, total deposits of $7.9 billion and stockholders’ equity of $780 million.

Henry Meier, chairman of First National Bank of DeKalb at the time of its acquisition by Castle BancGroup, was the husband of Irene Meier. Irene Meier is the daughter of the late Paul A. Nehring, and younger sister of the late Paul M. Nehring.

It was the elder Paul Nehring who constructed the bank building at 141 W. Lincoln Highway and moved First National Bank in DeKalb, of which his family was the largest stock holders, from the bank building the family owned at 164 E. Lincoln Highway in 1967.

The bank building downtown was used for years as storage space for the younger Paul Nehring’s collection of unusual furniture before his widow, Shirley Nehring, donated it to the DeKalb Park District last February.

According to Steve Bigloin, author of “A Journey Through DeKalb County” (the first volume in a projected trilogy of books on DeKalb County history), Henry Meier died at the age of 72 in 1986. Meier’s death occurred just two years after selling the bank. Henry’s widow, Irene, is the last survivor of Paul A. Nehring’s three children, and is in her mid-80s.

The Nehrings are “noted for their longevity,” Bigloin said, referring to the fact Irene’s father died at 91 and brother died at 87.