3 CU Reps Killed In NC Plane Crash

A week after a single-engine plane crash that killed two employees and one supervisory committee member of Marine FCU here, employees were struggling to cope with the loss.

"What can you say," said VP-Marketing Wendy McGill, fighting back tears. "This is a tremendous loss, a tremendous loss."

McGill, who on the morning she was interviewed by The Credit Union Journal said she was on her way to "two funerals today," asked that questions regarding the victims wait a week.

Killed were MFCU's chief financial officer, Floyd Lewis, 51; accounting supervisor DeVonnya Greenfield-Burks, 35 and Gregory Russell, 49, supervisory committee member.

The $290-million CU was closed for three hours on Monday, June 11 so that staff could attend memorial services.

The plane, flown by Russell, a 20-year Marine Corps pilot, was returning to Jacksonville from Charlotte-Douglas Airport when the crash occurred at about 5:35 p.m., June 6. The threesome made the trip to attend a meeting with the Federal Reserve in Charlotte.

"It left a lot of waves in the community, and a hell of a lot of waves in our organization," said Craig Chamberlin, MFCU president, in an interview with the Jacksonville Daily News.

Chamberlin and Chuck Collins, executive VP of MFCU, had both flown with Russell on previous occasions. Collins, also a retired Marine, called Russell "a damn good pilot."

The cause of the crash near the Monroe, N.C., airport is still under investigation.

Larry Johnson, president of the North Carolina Credit Union League, said there would be a special tribute to the victims during the league's annual meeting, June 17-20.

"We are still sorting out the details," he said. "But we want to do something to make our community aware and provide the sympathy."

Johnson said that while the loss is "very stunning," he expects that MFCU will be able to get back to business. First order of business, however, is to take care of the needs of the families, he said. "The local pastor said it best when he called this a tragedy of the first order," Johnson said, adding that the league stands ready to fill any void necessary within the CU.

Greenfield-Burks is survived by her husband, Stony Burks, and her three children, Latonnya Greenfield, 16; Daniel Greenfield, 15, and Kwatika Greenfield, 13.

She started her career at MCFU as a part-time teller and worked her way up to accounting supervisor two years ago. Greenfield-Burks was taking accounting classes at the local community college and training courses through the North Carolina league.

Lewis joined MFCU as a management trainee in 1990 after retiring from the Marine Corps. In addition, he served as chairman of his church's deacons and, along with his wife, Becky, lead the singles ministry for young military people.

In addition to his wife, Lewis leaves behind sons Jeff, 26, and Mark, 21. Russell is survived by his wife, Eva and their son, Christopher, 17. In addition to his work with the credit union, Russell was a volunteer pilot for Angel Flights, an organization that transports patients to medical appointments.

He was also owner of Mail Boxes, Etc., a store he opened in 1993 after retiring from the military.