McGee didn’t always want to go into banking. “The truth is, I hated it -- back then it was all about paperwork, audits and initialing forms,” he told BusinessWeek in an article published in 2005.

Rejecting a career in law, he worked as a lending officer for a small California bank. He moved in 1990 to a predecessor to Bank of America Corp.

McGee spent almost 20 years at the lender, rising to president of the consumer and small business bank in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was responsible for deposits and debit and helped oversee the integration of companies that were acquired by the bank, such as FleetBoston Financial Corp., LaSalle Bank and credit-card issuer MBNA Corp.

Kenneth Lewis, Bank of America’s former CEO, called McGee a “true visionary” in Monday’s statement.

“We gave him huge challenges at Bank of America and had high expectations,” Lewis said. “He exceeded those high expectations every time.”

McGee left Bank of America in 2009 after Lewis shifted future CEO Brian Moynihan to run the consumer banking division. In a statement at the time, McGee said he would “pursue my goal of running a company.”

Education, Arts

McGee was former chairman of the University of San Diego’s board of trustees and served two terms as a director of the Los Angeles branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. He also served on the board of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in Charlotte.

Hartford said in January 2013 that McGee had a tumor removed from his brain and would undergo low-dose chemotherapy and radiation treatment. In June 2014, the company said he was stepping down to focus on “continued recovery from a recent procedure related to my previously disclosed health issue.” McGee left Hartford’s board of directors in January 2015.

McGee is survived by his wife Lori Tomoyasu McGee, his sons Stephen Liam, Jordan William Riichi, Aidan Masayoshi, daughter Lauren Margaret Murray, and granddaughter, Finley Jane Murray. He’s also survived by his sister Mary and brothers Mike, John and Tom.

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