MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - TCF Financial Corp. says Bill Cooper, the chief executive credited with reviving and building the once-failing savings and loan into Minnesota's third-largest bank, has died. He was 73.
Cooper, who died Tuesday, was TCF's chairman and CEO for nearly 30 years. Cooper led the former Twin City Federal Savings and Loan out of the savings and loan crisis in the 1980s. He took it public and rechartered it as a bank that grew to several hundred branches in seven states
He was also a dominant leader in Minnesota politics, serving as state Republican Party chairman in the late 1990s.
Craig Dahl, TCF vice chairman and chief executive officer, said Wednesday that Cooper pioneered "innovations in the banking industry and establishing a rich tradition of philanthropy and community involvement within TCF."