CINCINNATI–Perhaps it shouldn’t be too surprising that the woman dubbed the “Mother of Credit Unions” would have a son and a daughter currently leading two separate CUs. Or that in an industry that talks often of its being a “family” that credit unions across the country are led by CEOs whose parents were in also in CUs.
As the country celebrates Mother’s Day this week, Credit Union Journal spoke with several CU CEOs whose mothers preceded them–including the woman who may be best known of all, Louise Herring. Herring was present at the fateful 1934 meeting in Estes Park, Colo., during which CUNA was founded and she went on to help establish an estimated 500 credit unions and remain active as a volunteer up until her death in 1987. Today CUNA and state leagues honor credit unions each year with the Louise Herring Philosophy in Action Award.
Herring also is the mother of brother and sister William and Catherine Herring, who today run credit unions themselves. Bill is president and CEO of the $81-million Cincinnati Central CU, while Catherine is CEO of $50 million Communicating Arts CU, also in Cincinnati.
On the other side of the United States, Linda Foy worked in credit unions for 28 years, 23 of them as CEO of San Bernardino School Employees FCU. Foy’s sons followed her into the movement: Brett Martinez currently is the president and CEO of the $1.6-billion Redwood CU in Santa Rosa, Calif., and Mark Martinez is a division manager, executive support, for CUNA Mutual Group.
The common thread for the younger two Herrings, Foy and her two sons? None of them set out to be so heavily involved in credit unions, but for each, once in the movement the passion for CUs was unshakable.
According to Catherine Herring, prior to being one of the founding figures of credit unions her mother worked for the Kroger Co. in Cincinnati, which had several CUs for its employees. During the early 1930s Louise had corresponded with Edward Filene regarding credit unions, and when she heard about the pending meeting in Estes Park she lobbied her bosses at Kroger to be allowed to attend. Louise was given the time off, but had to pay her own way to Colorado, Catherine said.
“It was at that meeting when she got the major bug,” Catherine said with a laugh. “She became an organizer of credit unions and was the first full-time managing director of the Ohio Credit Union League.”
Louise married in 1939 and started a family that eventually included five children. She retired from paid CU work when Bill, her oldest boy, was born. Catherine, who was the youngest child, said Louise remained active on a volunteer basis during this time, and when Catherine was in kindergarten Louise resumed helping small CUs and did so for the rest of her life.
Despite the innumerable accolades heaped on Louise Herring during her lifetime of dedication to credit unions, Bill said his mother never considered herself “famous” or “important.” Instead, he told Credit Union Journal, “she always focused on service to the members as individuals.”
“Growing up I remember members calling our house because they were working folks trying to achieve their dreams,” he recalled. “Some calls were from people who had lost a child and the funeral home wanted money up front–she would make sure it was taken care of.”
When Bill graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1969, as many young people were doing in that era he applied to join the Peace Corps–but fate intervened. A local CU then known as Cincinnati Chapter Credit Union served officers, directors and employees of other credit unions because regulations prevented many from borrowing from their credit unions–and CCCU had a problem.
“The credit union manager threatened to quit and the board took him up on it,” Bill reported. “My mother had organized this credit union and was on the board, so she asked if I would watch the place until I got my application for the Peace Corps processed. And 41 years later, I’m still here.”
Catherine noted her path into credit unions didn’t have quite the same serendipity as her brother’s, but she said hers was likewise accidental.
“I didn’t decide credit unions were what I wanted to do as a career, but my first job out of college was for Communicating Arts CU in 1973,” she said. “At that time there were only four employees, so I handled many duties including teller, loan officer and whatever else needed to get done, and I never left! You get into the day-to-day rhythm of things, and more importantly, you realize you have an opportunity to make a difference. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the credit union was growing and changing, and it was great to be part of a dynamic organization.”
Echoed Bill: “I didn’t start out to do this credit union thing. Mom believed in working people having control over their economic destinies and achieving their dreams, so that’s why she organized so many credit unions. Credit unions enhance the quality of life of average working people and I saw that growing up, which is probably why I was interested in the Peace Corps. She believed strongly and passionately in the cooperative model and preached it every day, so certainly that influenced my ideals. It just played out a little bit differently for me.”
Bill said his mother was never motivated by money, or by how big a credit union could be. Asset growth, in her opinion, “was a result of the pursuit of the philosophical issue of people pooling their resources and helping each other, but she never judged herself by how big the credit union was. It was about bringing economic justice to the membership.
“I’m proud of my mother, but I’m also proud of my father and sisters and brothers,” Bill continued. “I didn’t necessarily try follow in her footsteps, but I feel very blessed to be the son of Louise Herring. By the accident of birth I was born into a second-generation, hard-working Irish family.”
Starting Small In California
Linda Foy entered the working world as a teller at Bank of America four decades ago. On a friend’s recommendation she switched to credit unions in 1975, when she went to State Credit Union in San Bernardino. The CU merged with Arrowhead Credit Union in 1980, causing Foy to move to San Bernardino School Employees FCU. She worked there from 1980 until retiring in 2003 as CEO. Today she lives in California’s Gold Rush Country in the town of Jackson.
As a demonstration of how difficult it is to get CU’s out of one’s system, even in her “retirement” Foy spent time filling in as temporary CEO for Sacramento District Postal Employees CU in its CEO was retiring. She still is on the board of directors for Sacramento District Postal Employees CU.
Asked what led to her lengthy career in the movement, Foy said when she moved from a bank to a credit union, she immediately fell in love with credit union people.
“They are very caring and very interested in their members,” she declared. “The fact the members owned the credit union meant the credit union industry served their members so much better than banks.”
San Bernardino School Employees FCU was very small when Foy first began, holding only $2 million in assets. Running a credit union was not necessarily her goal, but she said the board of directors and an NCUA examiner encouraged her to apply for the CEO position when it opened. When she retired it was at $45-million.
“I truly, truly loved my job, the employees and the members. I enjoyed going to work every single day.”
Foy did not attempt to guide her sons along her footsteps, other then when Brett had graduated from high school and looking for a job and she suggested he go to a credit union. Most of the inspiration, she recalled, was indirect.
“We had many family conversations at home about the philosophy of credit unions, the people and the industry,” she said. “It was such a positive in my life, they saw it was a good thing. Once they started working in credit unions, they liked it.”
Brett Martinez got his start in CUs when he was very young, helping out by doing odd jobs at his mom’s credit union. “It felt comfortable. My mom was there, obviously, but the staff felt like family, too,” he said.
“I didn’t grow up thinking I was going to go into credit unions, but I grew up around credit unions,” Brett continued. “I have the credit union passion running through my blood because I grew up going to annual meetings. What’s funny is my mom was running a very small credit union, which is different from what I do. My mom had to run the teller line, run the books, be a master of everything. That was a little intimidating seeing everything she had to do and how good she was at it.”
When Brett graduated high school he had a graveyard shift at a grocery store before taking his mom’s advice and applying for work at a credit union. He was hired by San Bernardino County Central CU, which is now Arrowhead CU.
“It had an education reimbursement program, so I was able to pay for part of my college,” he said. “Things grew as I became more passionate about credit unions. Later I went to work for the California CU League. That was very good for me because as much as I thought I knew about credit unions, I learned how much I didn’t know.”
Brett was with the league for about three-and-a-half years and enjoyed his time there, but he also missed the day-to-day operations. He opted to join Redwood CU as EVP and chief operations officer for a year, then became CEO in January 2002.
After having been with Redwood for several years, Brett made a return of sorts to the league and served a year as chairman of the CCUL 2007-08. “It was an interesting year to be chairman of the league, but I am more passionate about credit unions than I ever have been. I think a lot of my career was from a subconscious influence. My mom showed me something I might not have heard of otherwise, and she suggested I go apply for a job at San Bernardino County Central, so without that, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Not necessarily by design, but for those who understand credit unions they understand the passion that goes into the job.”
Said Foy: “Brett is a real go-getter when he puts his mind to something, and a hard worker, so he climbed the ladder very quickly.”
Brett’s brother, Mark Martinez, started his professional career in a decidedly non-CU space: in sales for Hallmark Greeting Cards in San Diego. In 2001 Clarke American Checks came hiring, and soon he was working a territory of 56 credit unions in the San Diego marketplace.
“It seemed a nice fit because my family was in the industry and I grew up with credit unions. That was my foot in the door with working with credit unions,” he recalled.
After three years with Clarke American, and knowing people in the CU industry, Mark moved to CUNA Mutual as a division manager--executive support, which meant he was business manager for 11 states in CUNA Mutual’s Western Region. Today, Mark is an account consultant working in the field with 22 CUs in the Southern California market.
“Working for the greeting card business was not a bad gig by any means, but it was very comfortable working for credit unions because I grew up in that environment,” Mark assessed. “Sales was something I liked and was good at, but I felt getting back into credit unions was a nice fit. Credit union people are nice people; real people. I don’t want to be some guy coming in and pushing a product. I want to work with credit unions to help them serve their members.
“This job is my career, and you want to do something that can make an impact on helping people and enjoy what you are doing,” Mark continued. “I love working for CUNA Mutual because it exists because of credit unions. I like the fact that credit unions are our business. My mom instilled a work ethic in both of us, and integrity is instilled in our family from my mother, so hats off to her.”
Foy: “I am so proud of both of my sons. Brett has been so successful and is a great leader. He and Mark are my pride and joy.”
