LADDIE KOZENY

Class of 1949
​Inducted in 1991

Laddie J. Kozeny was inducted into the SHS Hall of Fame in 1991.

After leaving SHS to work full-time due to the death of his father, he later attended AIB Banking classes in Commercial Banking and Commercial Law.  He started his banking career at Packers National Bank in 1923 as a messenger and then became a teller.  He was promoted to Assistant Cashier in 1939 and then to First Vice President.  He took semi-retirement in 1971 and became Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors in 1977, serving as Chairman-Emeritus starting in 1986.  His face was on the side of a SO building and he was well known throughout SO.  He was made an Admiral in the Nebraska Navy by Governor Kay Orr in 1987, was named “Man of the Year” in Douglas County in 1971, was presented the key to the City of Omaha by Steve Tomasek in 1987 and was inducted into the Old Timer’s Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.  President Reagan sent him a letter recognizing him for his 64 years of service to Packer’s Bank in 1987.

His community service included serving as president of the “Q” Street Merchants and South Omaha Merchants.  He was a member of South Omaha Sokols for 50 years, a member of Eagles and of the Knights of Columbus.  He served on the Board of the Nebraska Advocates to Nursing Home Residents and helped with Community Chest and Cancer drives.  He also was a blood donor bank supporter.

Laddie said he felt SHS was instrumental in giving him the tools to succeed.  He took a business course on sales which always made him enjoy meeting people.  He also had good penmanship which was stressed at SHS.  Other helpful classes included bookkeeping, history and geography.  Being a product of SHS taught him to accept people as they are and not to “judge a book by its cover.”  This philosophy helped him to be very conscientious to customer needs and always do his best to help and never hurt them.  He will always be thankful to SHS and its teachers for instilling in him the qualities necessary to succeed in both his personal and professional life.