North Carolina bank's chief executive dies in plane crash

The president and CEO of Integrated Financial Holdings in Raleigh, North Carolina, was among two people killed in a plane crash Jan. 7 in Virginia.

The $437 million-asset company said the CEO, Eric Bergevin was 53. The small passenger plane crashed around 12:16 p.m. and was engulfed in a fire, according to Virginia State Police. Christian Fauchald, 54, also died in the crash, police said.

More details were pending an accident investigation.

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Integrated, the parent of West Town Bank & Trust, said its chairman, Marc McConnell, was named interim president and CEO. Melissa Marsal, Integrated's chief operating officer, was named the president and CEO of the company's bank unit.

"This is an unfathomable loss to comprehend. Eric was a great friend to so many, a loving father and husband, a respected member of the banking industry and a beloved member of the … community," McConnell said in a statement.

Integrated said in the release Monday that its deal to be sold to MVB Financial Corp. "remains on track."

MVB Financial, of Fairmont, West Virginia, agreed last year to buy Integrated for $98 million. Bergevin had planned to join MVB's leadership team. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter. 

The accident that killed Bergevin came five days after Brent Beardall, CEO of Washington Federal in Seattle, was seriously injured in a plane crash in Utah. Beardall, 51, had surgery and is expected to make a full recovery, WaFd said.   

In 2021, an executive at Synovus Financial in Columbus, Georgia, was among four people killed in a plane crash near Atlanta. The executive, specialty finance division CEO Jonathan Rosen, died when the single-engine plane he was piloting crashed and caught fire.