Roger S. Hillas, 92, prominent Philadelphia banking executive and community leader

Roger S. Hillas, 92, of Gwynedd Valley, a prominent banking executive and community leader, died Sunday, June 23, of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at his home.

Mr. Hillas was best known as the former CEO of Provident National Bank. In 1982, Mr. Hillas was instrumental in merging Provident with Pittsburgh National Corp. to create PNC Financial Corp., with $10.3 billion in assets. At that time, PNC was the largest bank merger in the nation, said his friend Phil Goldsmith.

Mr. Hillas was later hired to try to salvage the troubled Philadelphia Saving Fund Society, and had a leading role in keeping the Eagles in Philadelphia when the team threatened to move to Arizona in the 1980s, Goldsmith said.

“Roger was a mentor to me,” said Goldsmith, a former Philadelphia managing director. “A true gentleman, community leader, and a heck of a businessman.”

Born and raised in Wyncote, Mr. Hillas graduated from William Penn Charter School in 1945 and never lost his allegiance to the school. He served in the Navy during World War II and received a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College before being called back into service during the Korean War.

On returning from Korea, Mr. Hillas began his career at Provident in 1951. Over the next 33 years, he rose to chairman and CEO.

Six years after the PNC merger, at the request of the federal government, he was asked to help rehabilitate the shaky PSFS, which had been renamed Meritor Savings Bank to emphasize its expansion into financial services.

When the new venture began to lose money, the company was forced to sell off branches and subsidiaries. Mr. Hillas was the bank’s chairman and CEO from 1988 until December 1992, when he stepped down. The bank was later placed in federal receivership and its assets sold to Mellon Financial.

He was an excellent student at Penn Charter, where he managed the football team, played basketball, and co-captained the track team, on which he was a star high jumper.

Beginning in 1961, seeking to give back to the East Falls private school, he served as an overseer, or trustee, for 55 years. He was the school’s treasurer for 34 years and instrumental in expanding the campus through acquisition of the adjacent Sklar estate and another property owned by the Strawbridge family. He and his family gave generously to the school.

“Our alumni are known for their intense loyalty and support, and Roger epitomized this best,” said Penn Charter head of school Darryl J. Ford. “He cherished Penn Charter and the city of Philadelphia, and we cherished him.”

Mr. Hillas was active in local, city, and state government initiatives, and served on myriad boards of directors including the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Warburg Pincus, Toll Bros., Conrail, and Bon-Ton Stores.

He had many interests, which he pursued with great zest. A prolific reader, he loved the New York Times, biographies of historical figures, and fanciful creatures such as Ferdinand the Bull, the children’s book character.

Mr. Hillas loved the outdoors and campaigned for the preservation of open space. He fought endlessly, though, with the groundhogs that wrecked his yard.

He valued the healing power of humor and, when appropriate, resignation to greater forces. “So it goes,” he liked to say.

He was a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. “He instilled in his children a genuine distaste for any team coming from New York, Boston or, especially, Pittsburgh,” his family said.

Though he accepted advances in technology, he remained old-fashioned in some ways, preferring to walk into a bank to make deposits and withdrawals instead of using an ATM.

Mr. Hillas was married to Mary A. Hillas, who preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Dee Reiley Hillas; children Roger Jr., Susan, Lynn, Heather, and Sean; three grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. A daughter, Charlotte, died earlier.

All services will be private. The family asks that those wishing to honor Mr. Hillas do an act of kindness “from the heart.”