John H. Vogel; executive shared his banking expertise

Born in New York City, Mr. Vogel attended Woodmere Academy in Woodmere, N.Y., a school his mother helped found. He graduated in 1934.

Mr. Vogel was awarded a scholarship to Swarthmore College, but turned it down so he could help support his family during the Depression.

He began his business career at Meinhard and Co. in New York, where he worked as a messenger. During that time, Mr. Vogel attended night school at New York University. He majored in finance, and received his bachelor’s degree in 1940, and a master’s degree in 1942.

In 1943, Mr. Vogel enlisted in the Army Air Force, eventually rising to the rank of captain. During the war, he flew combat missions throughout the Pacific, and was on one of the first US planes to land in Japan after the war ended.

When he returned home in 1947, Mr. Vogel married Helen Wolff, whom he had met years earlier in high school.

“He had his eye on her all those years,’’ said his daughter, Ginny Vogel Zanger of Jamaica Plain. “He pursued her until she said ‘yes.’ ’’

In 1964, Mr. Vogel graduated from Harvard Business School’s advanced management program. He credited the program with giving him an international perspective on business and life.

“He was always an insatiable traveler,’’ said Zanger. “He traveled extensively in Europe and Asia and even went to China in the 1970s.’’

Mr. Vogel rose through the ranks at Meinhard and Co. and its parent company, finance giant CIT.

In 1966 when CIT purchased Meadow Brook National Bank, Mr. Vogel was installed as executive vice president and chief lending officer.

Four years later, he was promoted to president and chief executive officer.

Under his guidance, Meadow Brook merged with the National Bank of North America and formed the eleventh-largest bank in New York. When CIT sold the bank to National Westminster Bank of Britain, Mr. Vogel became the first US citizen to sit on the bank’s board of directors.

He retired as vice president of CIT in 1982.

In his later life, Mr. Vogel would often say, “I retired three times.’’

Technically, Mr. Vogel retired in 1982, but his years after CIT were anything but dull. He spent three years teaching finance at New York University and was dean of the business school at Long Island University’s C.W. Post campus for a year.

After teaching, Mr. Vogel spent the next five years as a volunteer for the International Executive Service Corp., sharing his financial expertise with institutions in Peru, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.

“He was so excited about that work,’’ said Zanger. “He enjoyed working in Bangladesh so much that he returned there with my mother for a second post.’’

After his years of volunteer service, the company asked him to become a vice president overseeing its programs in Africa and the Middle East. He remained in that post for five years.

“He was a force of nature,’’ said Zanger. “He spent his 90th birthday in Paris, and had just returned from an extensive tour of Patagonia last fall. He lived his life to the fullest right up until the very end.’’

In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Vogel leaves his sons John H. of Norwich, Vt., and Thomas H. of Scarsdale, N.Y., six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

A memorial service will be held at the Westchester Ethical Culture Society, in White Plains, N.Y., today from 1 to 3 p.m. Local services have been held.