The chief operating officer at $970 million-asset Frontier Bank of Texas in Elgin, Texas, is determined to hike and canyoneer through all 63 U.S. national parks alongside her sister.
Out of Office: Evelyn Franco
The chief operating officer at $970 million-asset Frontier Bank of Texas in Elgin, Texas, is determined to hike and canyoneer through all 63 U.S. national parks alongside her sister.
August 01, 2025 / By Ben Wagner
The chief operating officer at $970 million-asset Frontier Bank of Texas in Elgin, Texas, is determined to hike and canyoneer through all 63 U.S. national parks alongside her sister.
[My sister Rosemary Cruz and I] took our very first trip in October 2020, so it was the height of the pandemic. We were trying to find ways of being able to connect and spend time together but do so safely, [so] we decided to go to the Grand Canyon.
We thought it was just going to be a one-and-done thing. We went [to the Grand Canyon], and we were hooked and loved it. Then we decided, ‘What if this was our life goal? What if we find a way each year to visit a couple parks?’
A lot of these trails can be really remote, especially for canyoneering, so you don’t have access to Wi-Fi or anything like that. And so, that’s really [how it] started—as a way to … keep in touch with my sister and just disconnect while being really present.
Do you or a fellow community banker have a cool hobby? Email magazine@icba.org for a chance to be featured.
Olympic National Park is really beautiful, and the best canyoneering spots are in Utah. But if I had to pick a favorite [national park], it’d be Grand Teton. Our next park that we want to be able to visit is Yosemite; we want to do the Half Dome [hike].
[Hiking and canyoneering are] so mentally demanding, but it’s pretty [scenery]... You get to be active and then test your own boundaries in a different way. And honestly, to be able to do that, you have to test your own mind, right?
Ben Wagner is an editorial assistant for Independent Banker.
Subscribe now
Sign up for the Independent Banker newsletter to receive twice-monthly emails about new issues and must-read content you might have missed.
Sponsored Content
Featured Webinars
Join ICBA Community
Interested in discussing this and other topics? Network with and learn from your peers with the app designed for community bankers.
Related Articles
Do You Want to Be Featured in Out of Office?
CulturePeople
The Best Community Banks to Work For 2025
CulturePeople
How to Encourage Innovation Beyond the C-Suite
PeopleEducation and Training
Subscribe Today
Sign up for Independent Banker eNews to receive twice-monthly emails that alert you when a new issue drops and highlight must-read content you might have missed.
News Watch Today
Join the Conversation with ICBA Community
ICBA Community is an online platform led by community bankers to foster connections, collaborations, and discussions on industry news, best practices, and regulations, while promoting networking, mentorship, and member feedback to guide future initiatives.
Join the Community Example Text
