Passings: William B. Brandt

Northwestern Financial Review, Jan 15, 2001

William B. "Bill" Brandt, general counsel and lobbyist for the Nebraska Bankers Association from 1965 to 1990, died on Dec. 16 in Lincoln. He was 76. As the result of a motor vehicle accident he was involved in last June, Brandt was living in the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln until his death of congestive heart failure.

Brandt served two terms in the Nebraska legislature before joining the NBA. He also served as vice president and counsel for the First National Bank of Unadilla. Brandt was instrumental in passing Nebraska's Uniform Commercial Code in the 1960s. In the 1980s, he developed legislation to streamline the agricultural lien checking process through the establishment of a central lien indexing system operated by the Secretary of State's Office. He also was instrumental in the establishment of NetWorks, the statewide electronic funds transfer system.