FITCHBURG, Mass. – William Aubuchon, who built a family owned business into the nation’s largest privately owned hardware store chain and was a longtime director of I-C CU, died Tuesday at 91.
Aubuchon built his family business, Aubuchon Hardware, into a 136-store chain and served as a volunteer on the credit union board for more than 40 years, beginning soon after the credit union’s 1928 inception. During that time, he served on most of the committees, the credit, personnel and building panels, and served as chairman of the board from 1970 to 1974. “His whole heart was in it,” Norm Boudreau, long-time president of the $320 million western Massachusetts institution, told The Credit Union Journal yesterday. “He was a man of great vision for his time, and so knowledgeable.”
Aubuchon was succeeded on the I-C CU board by his son, Donat Aubuchon, who currently is a director.
The senior Aubuchon built the family chain from 33 stores and served on numerous community organizations, including the boards of Shawmut Bank and First Safety Bank, and on the board of trustees of the Massachusetts State College System.
