Historic Laredo

“I have learned through the years that peso
devaluations are not the end of the world. There
are very serious repercussions, but Mexico is a
great country, a very resilient country. We all
adjust,” Mandel continued.
He lamented the loss of downtown as the
hub of the central business district. “I’m very
happy, however, that we have this beautiful old
building,” he said of the Plaza Hotel building
which the bank occupies on the half block
bounded by San Bernardo Avenue and Hidalgo
and Farragut streets.
Mandel retired from banking in 1991. “I’m
still a director, but I am not in the thick of
things because banking has changed so much. I
left banking just as it was becoming more complicated
and very technical, and I think I was
spared that. I think this business meant the
most to me when I was in touch with how much
you were helping people’s lives change and
grow. There weren’t too many septuagenarians
in my field when I retired,” Mandel said. “I
enjoy coming to my office every day to read The
Wall Street Journal, The San Antonio Express,
Forbes, the local papers, and business publications.
I spend some time on family real estate
ventures, things less demanding than being a
banker,” he explained.
“I think my most valuable work as a banker
was to lend money to those who wanted an education
or to the parents who wanted to send their
children away for an education. Our children
used to leave Laredo after they were educated.
More and more of them stay here now to make
this their home and to be part of the changes and
growth. Nothing can create more change in a
community than education. I am proud of the
role of the bank in that change,” he said.
“This town has a spirit, which at times I have
perceived as lethargic and other times as
dynamic. That spirit brought us back from the
great flood of the fifties, and it has brought us
back from peso devaluation after peso devaluation.
We have always come back,” Mandel said.
Though Max Mandel’s dignity, kindness, and
goodwill come from reserves deep within himself,
he wears them on the outside. He will mention
with unabashed affection the names of his
wife and his children and grandchildren—three
daughters, five grandsons, two granddaughters.
He will talk about his years in banking and the
growth of a city that he has adopted as his own
and that has claimed him, but what he will never
talk about—and need not mention, for these
qualities are so well visible in his language and
demeanor—are his business acumen, his forward
thinking, and his compassion—the three
things about him that have over six decades
made Laredo move and change and grow.
“He’s heads and shoulders intellectually above
me,” said attorney George Person, who has
known Mandel for 30 years, “but he always
makes you feel like you’re his equal. He puts
everyone at ease without compromising his position
or condescending to anyone. He gets things
done. He’s never at a loss for what his objective is.
He is a fine human being whom I have admired.
I feel a deep love for him and the absolute highest
regard for him. In business and in friendship,
he has been a constant,” Person said.
JOHNSON & GILL:
PRIVATE SECTOR PUBLIC SERVANTS
As you read through the history of the S.N.
Johnson family in Laredo from the turn of the last
century forward, the lives of Betsy Johnson Gill
and Sam N. Johnson III come sharply into focus
❖
Seguin native Lt. Max Mandel and
Roslyn who were married in 1942.
COURTESY OF MAX MANDEL
Chapter III ✦ 29