Born just east of the middle of nowhere in South Dakota.
Bachelor’s in business admin. Master’s in public administration. First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
Led the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and South Dakota Bankers Association. Worked for the American Bankers Association in New York City and Washington, D.C. Organized Suburban National Bank, Eden Prairie’s first bank, at the newly built Eden Prairie Center in 1976.
Helped launch the Eden Prairie Rotary Club, Eden Prairie Community Foundation, Eden Prairie Crime Prevention Fund, and Eden Prairie Local News. Helped grow the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce and hire its first staff. Represented Eden Prairie and Edina in the Minnesota State Senate for 11 years. Chaired the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission for eight years, helping lay part of the groundwork for a new University of Minnesota football stadium, Target Field, and U.S. Bank Stadium.
Devoted husband to Mary Lou Terwilliger. Proud father of three children. Grandfather to nine.
Still kicking.
“I was a small-town kid who moved to the big city: New York City, and then Washington, D.C. for my work with the American Bankers Association and the International Monetary Conference following my start in banking with the South Dakota Bankers Association,” recounted Roy Terwilliger. “But I soon realized that staying on that track would mean our children and grandchildren would grow up without really knowing who I am. I chose not to miss recitals, church activities, ballgames, school plays, or days at our lake cabin, so we moved to a smaller part of the world where most everyone knows each other’s names or at least something else about them.
“Eden Prairie was little more than a truck farming community with many new businesses and corporations springing up when we first set foot on its soil in 1974. ‘The perfect spot to meet the community's need for a bank,’ we thought. That turned out to be correct! Helping small businesses get off the ground and people build on their dreams of good homes and schools filled me with a greater sense of pride than anything I could have hoped to accomplish in the corporate world or in our nation’s capital.
“While I may have played some small part in shaping Eden Prairie, I was really only a small component of a much larger concerted effort by many, many wonderful people. We are blessed to live in a community where people give of themselves so freely. The businesses. The churches. The many wonderful non-profits. The schools. The city government. If Eden Prairie can claim any greatness, then it’s only because all of these groups work together so beautifully. It has always been and continues to be a wonderful thing to see.
“My advice? Get involved with Eden Prairie. Support a worthy cause here, and take pleasure from becoming part of something bigger than yourself. You will be able to see it all up close and all around you!”