Poplar Bluff, Mo.-based Southern Bank appointed Matthew T. Funke as president and CEO, effective July 1.
Funke, currently the chief financial officer of the $3.2 billion bank, will also join the company’s board. Funke has served as bank CFO since 2006 and was appointed as an executive officer of the company in 2010. He joined Southern Bank in 2003 to establish an internal audit function and was assigned other risk management responsibilities.
The bank board appointed Greg A. Steffens as board chair and CEO of the company, effective July 1. Steffens will succeed L. Douglas Bagby, who will remain on the board as the lead outside director and vice chair. Steffens has more than three decades of banking experience, including as CFO for Southern Bank, CFO for the Mount Vernon, Mo.-based Sho-Me Financial Corp., and as an examiner with the Office of Thrift Supervision.
“In effect, this transition only more fully recognizes the leadership role that Greg already serves for our company,” Bagby said. “When we consider our growth over the 23 years that Greg has served as CEO, we recognize that he has truly been key to the company’s excellent regulatory track record, our outstanding financial performance, the expansion of our business development lines, our successful merger and acquisition strategies, and the development of a strong team at our executive and administrative management level.” The board also appointed Steffens as chair of Southern Bank, succeeding Sammy A. Schalk, also effective July 1.
Southern Bank Chief Risk Officer Lora L. Daves will succeed Funke in his current role. Daves, who has served in her role since 2017, was chief credit officer at Southern Bank from 2006 to 2016. Her 33-year career in banking and finance includes more than a decade with institutions ultimately acquired by the Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank. Daves has a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration-accounting from Southeast Missouri State University.
Lance K. Gruenke will succeed Daves in her position, effective July 1. He previously served as secretary, treasurer and CFO of Fortune Financial Corp. and president and chief operations officer of FortuneBank, which merged into Southern Missouri Bancorp on Feb. 25.