After more than 12 years as the public face of Bremer Bank, Jeanne Crain has announced she will retire from the role of president and chief executive officer on May 16, days after the St. Paul-based farm lender is scheduled to complete a planned merger with Old National Bank.

Crain, who has been in the financial services industry for more than 40 years, joined Bremer in 2012 and became the bank’s CEO in November 2016. She oversaw the company’s logo and brand refresh, major branch renovations and new openings, including targeted growth in eastern Wisconsin, the 2021 reopening of a shuttered branch in St. Paul’s Midway and the opening of a new branch on Lake Street in Minneapolis the following year.The bank, which is ranked as the 12th largest agricultural lender in the country, has been heavily involved in charitable efforts, including helping Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity launch mortgage products geared toward low- to moderate-income homebuyers, and working with St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s office to create college savings accounts for the city’s newborns and small children.

Legal turmoil

Crain may be remembered most for shepherding the bank — which was established by German philanthropist Otto Bremer in the 1940s — through five years of legal turmoil as bank officials butted heads with the three trustees of the Otto Bremer Trust, the St. Paul-based charitable foundation that effectively owns it. The unusual but decades-long arrangement — a charity owning a commercial lender — went under the legal microscope beginning in 2019 as the trustees attempted to oust the bank board and position the financial institution for sale by issuing voting stock to 19 East Coast hedge funds.

Crain and other bank officials resisted the takeover and forced sale, culminating in both the board and share-holding employees filing suit against the trustees of the philanthropy in Ramsey County District Court in 2019.

The trustees counter-sued, and individual hedge funds then filed their own legal action when the stock sale was frozen. The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, which regulates charities, filed its own legal action attempting to get the three trustees removed from the appointed positions they had inherited from their predecessors.

The six legal cases spun on for years. A Ramsey Country District Court judge removed one of the trustees in April 2022 and another later retired of her own accord, but the judge did not stop the bank sale from moving forward.

Merger announced

The bank and philanthropy announced a legal settlement in July 2024, and a friendly acquisition by Old National, which is based in Chicago and Evansville, Ind., last November. The $1.4 billion sale to Old National is expected to create the third-largest bank in Minnesota, with combined assets of more than $70 billion. Bremer already maintains 70 branches in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. The Otto Bremer Trust will maintain an 11% ownership stake in the newly-merged financial institution.

Crain is a former president and CEO of Marquette Bank and former president of BMO Harris Bank’s Minnesota region. She is a board member with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and served as a co-chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Housing from 2017 to 2018.

Bremer Bank officials declined official comment on Thursday, but Crain shared some parting words as she announced her departure on the social media platform LinkedIn.

“As Bremer joins Old National Bank, I do so with pride in what we’ve built and full confidence in what lies ahead,” she wrote. “This partnership is grounded in shared values and a deep commitment to community, and I truly believe it will strengthen the support and service you’ve come to expect from Bremer. It has been an honor to serve as CEO and to partner with so many of you in building a stronger, more vibrant future. Thank you for your trust, your collaboration, and for being part of this journey.”

The bank merger is expected to be completed May 1.