CHELMSFORD, Mass. Lucille Sullivan, the first full-time employee at Jeanne D’Arc CU and possibly the first female credit union or bank CEO in Massachusetts, died May 18 at her home here at 89.
Just before World War II, Sullivan met her future husband, Arthur Sullivan, at Union National Bank, where she worked as a part-time bookkeeper. Bank policy prohibited married couples from working together. As the war took away many men to fight overseas, she was given a job offer at Jeanne D’Arc CU.
She would become the credit union’s first full-time employee in 1975, when she was named treasurer. More than a decade later, in 1987, Sullivan became president and CEO.
Sullivan was the first full-time employee in 1975 because banking hours were so limited then, only part-time workers were needed. Jeanne D’Arc did not even open its second branch, in Dracut, until 1997. Rapid growth through mergers and new branch locations did not take place until the 2000s.
In the 15 years in which Sullivan was Jeanne D’Arc treasurer, the credit union’s assets grew from $20 million to $167 million. She retired in 1990. Jeanne D’Arc CU is now the Bay State’s sixth-largest credit union with more than $1 billion in assets.
