James Harp has been a member of Sooner Rotary for 5  years.  He has served on the committees  of Ways and Means, Vocational Tours, Fundraising and is currently Membership chair.  James is Executive Vice President and Chief  Credit Officer of Republic Bank & Trust.  The part of his job that he enjoys the most is community building.

James is married to Janet and his children are Julia, 21 and  Jay, 17.  He enjoys attending car shows, playing golf, and playing guitar.  A book he  enjoyed is The Richest Man from Babylon because of its historic,  no-nonsense financial advice.  Recent  magazines he’s read include Mustang Monthly and Hemmings Motor News.  Favorite weekend activities include  family time and car shows.  A favorite  daydream involves discovering “barn-find” cars.  A good title for a book about James’s life would be Cars, Guitars, and Banking.  If James could go back  two years and give himself advice, it would be to spend more time with family  and buy real estate.

When he gets to watch television, he enjoys HD theatre.  Favorite musicians include Badfinger, Led  Zepplin, Eagles, and Coldplay.

The least interesting topic James can think of to study  would be about increased government.

Interesting places James has visited include Germany, Canada, and New England.  He would enjoy  traveling to Israel.  A favorite place to  visit is Arkansas because he was born there and his family history is from  Western Arkansas.

Interests other than Rotary include First Baptist Church, classic cars, guitars and Harley Davidsons. James also belongs to the Norman  Regional Health System Foundation Board, Global Sports and is a former board  member of Norman United Way and Center for Children and Families, Inc.

Someone James admires is Jesus Christ because “he gave it  all for people he did not know”.