Festus R-VI Hall of Fame Inductee - Roy D. Burnside
2003 Festus R-VI Hall of Fame Recipient
Roy D. Burnside
Roy D. Burnside, the son of Joseph and Cressie Presnell Burnside, was born and raised in Festus, Missouri. He graduated with the Festus R-VI “Class of 1952.” While at Festus High School, he participated in sports and was a letterman in both track and basketball.
Upon graduation, Roy entered the workforce through employment at Vinyard Funeral Home and Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. He enrolled in the University of Wisconsin’s School of Banking after gaining employment at the Citizen’s Bank of Festus. Roy began his banking career as an assistant cashier and worked his way up to the position of bank vice president. He continued his education by enrolling in the University of Oklahoma’s School of Commercial Loans and at Washington University in St. Louis. After corporate restructuring, the Citizen’s Bank of Festus became Commerce Bank where Roy accepted the position of vice president and later became senior vice president. Roy left Commerce Bank to accept the position of executive vice president at the Bank foo Bloomsdale. He then obtained employment at A.G. Edwards as a financial consultant.
Roy D. Burnside and his wife, Barbara See, have dedicated their lives to community service. Roy has been a role model for his son Brian and thousands of other youngsters through his involvement in the YMCA, boy Scouts of America, Little League Baseball, Festus Library Board, and as a thirty (30) year member of the Festus R-VI Board of Education. He has worked to improve the community through his service as past president of various organizations, such as Twin City Rotary Club, Twin City Kiwanis club, Twin City Junior Chamber of Commerce, Festus Civic Improvement Association, Twin City Industrial Corporation, and the Jefferson Memorial Hospital’s Board of Directors. Roy’s service has extended past his community into Jefferson County. He has served on the Jefferson College Foundation Board and the Jefferson County Industrial Development Corporation; he has been past-president of the Jefferson County Banker’s Association. Roy has also served on the Missouri Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee, was the past-treasurer of the Salvation Army of St Louis, and has maintained a membership in the Backstoppers. He is also a member of Shekinah Lodge 256 where he is a 32-degree Scottish Rite Mason, and is a KCCH Degree Scottish Rite Mason.
Roy has been recognized as the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company Man of the Year (1973), was the Twin City Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year (1977), and has received the Jeffersonian Award (2001) and the Twin City Diversity Committee’s Martin Luther King Drummer Award.