Last week Jill Slupe introduced us to new member Patricia Cantu. Patricia was born and raised in Taos, New Mexico from ancestors who have lived in Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado since before the Mexican-American war which brought the Southwest into the United States. She counts as an ancestor, Padre Jose Antonio Martinez, who was villainized by Willa Cather in her novel, Death Comes for the Archbishop but whom the Hispano natives think was a pretty good guy.
After attending the University of New Mexico, she left New Mexico to attend Harvard Law School and later settled in Los Angeles. For much of her career Patricia was in-house legal counsel at various banks, most recently at Bank of the West. She and her family moved from Los Angeles to Omaha in 2006 when Bank of the West acquired Commercial Federal. Patricia was very active in California banking and received both the Alman McCallum Award for bank in-house attorneys and the Compliance Professional of the Year award from the California Bankers Association. In Nebraska she was recognized as a Nebraska State Bar Foundation Fellow. At Bank of the West, Patricia was Managing Senior Counsel and Senior Vice President. She left banking in January.
Patricia is working with her husband, Kerry McLaughlin, in his private personal training business located at 177th and Center. The business is now known as Next Step Fitness but was formerly Fitness Together. Having begun in the personal training business as clients, Kerry and Patricia recognize the need for and benefits of regular exercise. “Working out at Fitness Together changed my life,” Patricia often says.
Patricia and Kerry have three adult sons and three (soon to be five) grandchildren. She counts her children as her highest achievements.
Her hobby/passion is reading and studying the Bible. Welcome, Patricia!
