Tom B. Coughran

Who was Tom B. Coughran?

Tom B. Coughran was an American banker, soldier and public servant. He graduated from Visalia High School in 1923 and received a degree in economics from Stanford University in 1927. Following graduation he joined the First National Bank of Exeter, California. When that bank was bought by Bank of America, Coughran advanced quickly. He was named manager of the Exeter branch in 1932 and promoted to head of the Monterey branch in 1941.

In 1942 Coughran enlisted in the U.S. Army. He attended the Army Finance School at Fort Benjamin Harrison and was stationed at the Office of the Chief of Army Finance in Washington, D.C. until May, 1944. At that time he was transferred to the newly formed G-5 Civil Affairs Division at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, Europe. He was headquartered in London, Paris, and finally Hochst, an I.G. Farben company town near Frankfurt. He was discharged from the Army in March 1946 after rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Coughran returned to the Bank of America as manager of the Oakland, California branch. Soon after, he became head of the newly formed International Banking Department in San Francisco. In that capacity he traveled widely in the Far East to facilitate the expansion of the Bank of America into the Philippines, Thailand, Nationalist China, Japan and other locations.