Carol Ann and Ralph

A bank lobby. A town square. A museum gallery. A school building. The names ‘Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr.’ are found at spots they treasured across Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky where they played and worked, always with an eye on opportunities for improvements they could make to the communities around them. They lived well, but without pretension or extravagance, and always with a sense of humor, comfortable whether seated with dignitaries, neighbors, volunteers or children. Theirs is a legacy of warmth, involvement and commitment to improvement. Between them, there’s hardly a sector of the community they left untouched.

Carol Ann Homan Haile (1924-2004)

Carol Ann Haile threw a party with a sense of whimsy and the same energy she showed on the golf course or in her lifetime of volunteering for the causes that were important to her. Her involvement with the Junior League of Cincinnati led to the development of the docent program and the retail shop at the Cincinnati Art Museum. “Carol was like a mother to me,” says Tim Maloney. “She was part of our family,” Tim’s wife, Leslie, adds. “She insisted I wear her wedding dress when Tim and I married.” “You couldn’t be around Carol for very long without smiling and laughing,” Tim says, “because she combined a great sense of charm, a quick wit, and a delightful sense of humor.” He also credits Carol’s contribution to making Peoples Liberty Bank and Trust Company of Covington the most formidable banking institution in Northern Kentucky. Her father, Cliff Homan, was president and CEO of Peoples Liberty Bank, a role Ralph assumed upon his death in 1968. Carol was a proud alumnus of Miss Doherty’s School, now part of the Seven Hills School in Cincinnati, and received a mathematics degree from Randolph Macon Women’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Ralph Haile (1923-2006)

His signature bow tie, quick smile and morning coffee klatch on Pike Street with a band of Covington movers and shakers said a lot about Ralph Haile. As chief executive officer of Peoples Liberty Bank and Trust Company, he was the face of community banking, always on the lookout for the untapped opportunity. He had his finger on the pulse of the community, ready to lead the charge, collaborating, convening, and rallying to revive the urban core. He went from piloting fighter planes in the Army Air Corps to leading and growing Peoples Liberty Bank, bringing in the age of branch banking before it was acquired by First National Bank of Cincinnati in 1988 (which later became U.S. Bank). He rallied those around him to help lay the groundwork for Old Town Plaza, MainStrasse and the revitalization of the Licking Riverside neighborhood, persuading local bankers to put up necessary cash to hire an executive director of Covington’s Urban Redevelopment efforts. “For the longest time there really wasn’t anything worthwhile that happened in Covington and Northern Kentucky that Ralph Haile wasn’t involved in,” says Tim Maloney. “In addition to leading these initiatives that dramatically shaped the Northern Kentucky landscape, he always still touched the ‘little guy,’ supporting the needs of small retail establishments. He was accessible to everyone, insisting on a first-floor office.” Tim adds that Ralph was an important mentor to him in his own banking career. “Both Carol and Ralph taught us the importance of giving back to our community, either in time or financial resources.”