About seven years ago, The Tuscaloosa News called Sam Faucett an emotional man, one who has “fire in the belly.” The News editorial was remarking on Faucett’s selection as Northport’s Citizen of the Year.
Faucett is a passionate man, passionate about his family, his community, health care, education, The University of Alabama, and golf.
Faucett was born in 1935 to Sam Palmer (Bill) Faucett Jr., and Gwendolyn Margaret Dyer Faucett in Northport. He attended Northport Elementary School, then Tuscaloosa County High School, and in 1956 he earned his bachelor’s of science degree in finance from The University of Alabama. He also received a degree from the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin and the National School of Commercial Lending at the University of Oklahoma.
From 1949 through 1955 he worked at Adams Drug Store and at Faucett Brothers store, before spending a year at The Tuscaloosa Bank. Armed with his college degree, Faucett headed for New Orleans and took a job as an accountant with Shell Oil Company, gradually working his way up the ladder to the company office in New York.
A turning point came in 1962 when Faucett returned home and joined the City National Bank of Tuscaloosa, later known as First Alabama Bank and is now Regions Bank.
Starting as a loan teller, Faucett quickly became assistant vice president, vice president, and executive vice president, and senior loan officer at City National Bank, all within a span of 10 years.
In 1975, City National Bank became First Alabama Bank and Faucett was named president and chief executive officer of the Tuscaloosa bank. Eight years later he was named president of First Alabama – Western Region and made a member of the executive council.
In 1988, he became chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Tuscaloosa’s First Alabama Bank. Meanwhile, First Alabama Bancshares was formed in 1971, the state’s first multi-bank holding company. The name was changed to Regions Financial Corporation in 1994. In 1988 Faucett was named president of the Western and Florida Regions, with a seat on the executive council. In 1997 he became president of Western, Florida, and Louisiana Regions, a position responsible for Regions banks in Florida, Louisiana, and Western Alabama.
In 2000, Faucett announced his retirement, but that was only one event that year that was significant in his career. He also was named Citizen of the Year and by the city of Northport. In 2005, Faucett was named to Tuscaloosa County Civic Hall of Fame. He served 12 years on the Northport City Council and as Mayor for a brief time. He served on the board of DCH Regional Medical Center for 25 years, served on the President’s Cabinet at UA and the Capstone Health Services Foundation, and is currently on the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration Board of Visitors, the DCH Foundation Board, the Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Board [PARA], and the Community Foundation of West Alabama.
His professional affiliations include serving as chairman, director, and treasurer of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, which in 2000 named him Entrepreneur of the Year.
He has contributed to the community not only his time but also made a $1.45 million donation to build a new Tuscaloosa County High School, which prompted the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education to name the facility the Sam P. Faucett campus of Tuscaloosa County High School and named the Faucett-Vestavia Elementary School for his mother and father
His philanthropic activities include service with the United Way, Association of Retarded Citizens, the American Heart Association, and Christ Episcopal Church.
He and his wife, Leslie Wood Faucett, whom he married in 1957, have two daughters, Margaret Faucett Phillips and Marsha Faucett Crow, and six grandchildren.
