FORT WORTH, Texas — John Tippets is coming out of retirement. Again.
Tippets first retired from his longtime post as CEO of American Airlines CU in Texas in 2008, only to get a special assignment from NCUA after San Diego-based North Island Financial CU lost a staggering $102.4 million combined in 2008-09.
After Tippets led a startling turnaround in a hypercompetitive financial services market in the midst of the worst economic downturn in decades he earned accolades from throughout the industry — and the right to retire, again.
Retirement 2.0 took place at the end of 2012. Tippets had been living in an apartment in San Diego while his wife visited regularly from Texas and he periodically headed home from his "deployment." With his lease expiring and North Island's condition greatly improved, Tippets once again attempted to hang up his spikes.
It was not to be.
"I wanted to devote more time to speaking," he told Credit Union Journal, noting the gigs started slowly because he does not use a speaker's bureau, but quickly picked up. "Last year I spoke before 10 or 12 credit union audiences, plus another eight or 10 other types of audiences. I averaged two presentations per month in 2013."
In September, Tippets was asked to do consulting for a large credit union in California, which he declined to identify. That part-time job still keeps him busy eight to 10 days per month.
"I'm not really good at retirement," he said, stating the obvious. "But I enjoy being involved in the industry."
Hearts Of Courage
Although Tippets sometimes is asked to talk about principles of credit union leadership, and has presented at multiple CU management schools, his favorite topic is a survival tale of someone close to him — his father, Joseph Tippets.
For those who do not already know the story, here is a brief summary of the details from Tippets' book, "Hearts of Courage."
Joseph Tippets was an airways engineer with the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) in Anchorage, Alaska. On Jan. 5, 1943, he was one of five passengers on board a Lockheed Electra 10-B that departed from Seattle's Boeing Field about 1:30 p.m., headed to Annette Island near Ketchikan, the main refueling stop for flights to Anchorage.
The plane crashed in the Alaskan wilderness. One passenger, CAA employee Susan Batzer, died of injuries she suffered in the crash two days later. The pilot, Harold Gillam, ventured out to find help — only to vanish. The four remaining survivors shared small amounts of food, carefully portioned out to last as long as possible, but eventually were forced to take actions to find rescue.
For nearly three weeks, the four struggled down the mountain before making a new base camp. With Dewey Metzdorf and Robert Gebo too injured to travel any more, Joseph Tippets and Sandy Cutting struck out to find help. After more harrowing adventures, including a narrow escape from a leaky, small boat in a fierce winter storm, Tippets and Cutting were found by U.S. Coast Guard reservists 29 days after the crash. They managed to lead a Coast Guard team back to Metzdorf and Gebo, who also were rescued.
New Insights On Old Story
"I have enjoyed being on the credit union speaking circuit, especially telling my dad's story,"Tippets told CU Journal during a recent interview. "It has been wonderful doing that and every time I tell the story someone comes up and talks to me about it. A lot of people like to talk about Alaska. They have been to Ketchikan, maybe on a cruise, but always in the summer. They tell me they can't imagine surviving being outdoors in Alaska in the winter.
"It is such an inspirational story," he continued. "People have sent the book to friends and family who are recovering from cancer. Others want to tell the story to their credit unions that have been going through adversity."
Since the book came out, Tippets has met a number of people in their 90s who knew parts of the story he did not know. One of those who read the book and contacted Tippets was a Coast Guard reservist who helped find the survivors.
"He told me he was in charge of organizing the shore party and he was mad because he was certain there would be no survivors from the crash and did not want to be responsible for bringing out dead bodies," he recalled. "I even heard from one lady whose uncle was on the rowboat that rescued my dad."
Asked why his father's story is so compelling, Tippets said studies have found there are three genres of stories that have particular resonance with American readers: man overcoming nature, polar adventures and survival stories in which someone overcomes adversity.
"This story is about Alaska, which is a unique place," he said. "It is about aviation, which is a fascinating subject. Also, it is about the World War II timeframe, which resonates with many people. It has a faith and prayers element to it. Finally, it is a love story between my mother and father."
When Tippets tells the story to today's CU audiences he makes three connections. He notes the people on the plane had basic outdoor skills they had learned in the Boy Scouts. "This shows the basics matter," he said.
The second lesson is overcoming adversity together is important. "Two of them got out and went back to get the other two out. If they had been on their own they would not have made it."
Three: "Overcoming adversity is about perseverance, about pressing forward despite setbacks and each one encouraging his/her peers along the way."
Those interested in contacting Tippets can see his Facebook page at
