They could not have come into this life as quietly as they departed this year, could they? Surely there was applause and group photos, ribbon cuttings and cigar boxes (the cigars for celebration, the box for the safekeeping of records). For a few, certainly, champagne was uncorked, at the very least a few beer tabs pulled back.
But all of that is another year closer to being forgotten now. All those thousands, no tens of thousands of meetings that were held, the discussions, motions, arguments and the "OK, let's vote's," recalled today by only the rectangular tables around which they were held and which now sit in thrift stores, vainly hoping to be important once more.
"They" are the credit unions that shut down this year, proving '13 was indeed their unlucky number, now not so much in the cloud as in the clouds, unmarked headstones in the credit union Potters Field. Their board minutes, their branch hours, their open/closed days now just oblivion's dust.
Before their very names are lost forever - and CU names remain such wonderful but fading postcards of America's heritage (that includes you, Heritage CU) - we pause to remember those that faded away in all directions, from SummitOne to All Valley, from Southside to North Texas Teachers, from Westco to East Central, from State Center to New Mexico Central.
As they pass over the Horizon (FCU), we wave goodbye to San Francisco BPR, Iowa Community, CWA Long Island, Fort Worth Telco, Thornton Township, Alameda, Fort Bragg Community, Niagara Falls Policemen's, Norfolk, Greater Norwalk, New Mexico Energy, El Paso Corporation, Greater Oregon, Chicagoland Electrical Industry, and all the way to Bonner Springs and the Rivers Edge.
The CU that hit the biggest pothole of all in 2013? San Francisco Bureau of Public Roads. Of course, we also hope it wasn't workplace injuries that led to the demise of Georgia Department of Public Safety CU.
Without a Prayer
Their faith never lacking, nevertheless the prayers went unanswered this year at AME Union, ZOAR Methodist Church, Holy Family Ogleby, Church Koinonia, Lutheran CU, Mt. Zion Community, St. John's AME Birmingham, St. Julie Billiart, New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church, First Kingdom, and Lane Metropolitan CME Church. All now reside in Co-op Heaven.
We take heed in noting the Co-op Reaper didn't discriminate by demographics, as the passing of both Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises and Appalachian FCU soberly remind us.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night could stop their members, but once again regulators and marketplace realities have now forever kept from their appointed rounds Lima Postal, Worcester Postal, Brockton Postal Employees, Ashville Postal and Postal EFCU.
In perhaps 2013's greatest "It didn't have to happen" moment, regulators missed a merger of destiny when in the same week they shuttered Pepsi Cola FCU and I.C.E. FCU. Pepsi Cola & ICE FCU? Could have been the Cause That Refreshes. And how come we couldn't find a bark-eating, bear-intimidating, manly man to keep the fizz in Dr. Pepper Employees FCU.
The Initial Losses
This year we added to the honor roll of greats known by their initials, such as JFK, LBJ, and FDR, and who once passed among us, the following: CNG, CTCE, ARC CU, NWS Yorktown, BHA Residents, USU, NCP, NWNJ, E&A, MPO and N&W.
During 2013, once more we witnessed CU execs everywhere doing post-graduate work to expand their skill sets, yet the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice and mathematics couldn't save Athena FCU, so what chance do you really have? Speaking of which, your parents (and now your boss or board) always told you that grades and education are what matter. And yet how do they explain the departure of A+ Credit Union, Thornton Township School, Toledo Bend Teachers, Park Schools, Coos Educators, Eaton County Educational, and Williams College Employees, which has matriculated its final class.
We ask you to bow your head and ponder these life questions: Has Bethlehem Municipal Employees returned to its birthplace in order to be counted? Will there ever again be a credit union with a name like Burgess & Niple? Where will short-legged omnivores now gather to advance their educations following the demise of Badger Campus? Why didn't anyone see the handwriting on the wall at Cataract City FCU? Who turned out the lights at Kilowatt CU?
Life's mysteries continue. Did Zane Trace leave one? Where shall we keep our stones now that Sto-Rox is gone? In a country of 50 states, were suspicions ever raised about State Employees #84? And most intriguingly, was it the Mr. Smiths that finally brought about the downfall of NEO FCU?
What Choice Did They Have?
Among those CUs that departed this mortal coil in 2013 were some whose names seem to predestine that mortality. Danville Consolidated (indeed it did). Amalgamated (ditto). IOUE #9 (surely the first sign of trouble is having IOU right in the name.) Southern Illinois Area CU (SIA sounds to much like see ya.) Price CU (price is important, but you gotta have product, too), and Milestone CU (indeed, it marked its last.)
Speaking of last, Rome (CU) may not have been built in a day, but sadly it disappeared in one. This was the year of misplaced confidence (Assurance FCU) and, despite the success of the TV reality show, also the year no rescue copter was available after U.S. Coast Guard Community CU capsized.
A Quiet Moment Of Reflection
Shhhh. Do you hear that? Of course not; not with all the cellphone yakking and iPod blaring and 24/7 cacophony all around us. For that reason we silently observe the passing of one of my favorite names in CUs, and something we very much all need, Quiet Corner Community CU.
How often have we been told that the secret to a long life is a healthy diet? Well, try telling that to Del Monte Eastern Region, Quaker Oats Employees or Dairy Pak. Heck, even health is apparently no guarantee of health, as the former HealthONE FCU can attest. Perhaps all of them should have visited Oschsner Clinic FCU or even Runnells Hospital Employees (before they closed).
We pause to note the passing of a page of CU and American history, as this year Taupa Lithuanian and Ukrainian Home Dnipro extinguished the lamps first lit by immigrants.
An ink-stained editor shouting "stop the presses!" used to be the stuff of black and white movies. For Newspaper Employees CU, Tribune Herald, and Hutchinson News CU, sadly, it was the stuff of reality this year. Read all about them no more.
Left wing, right wing and everyone in between, unite! For in bipartisan solidarity we lament the demise of Uncle Sam FCU. Perhaps that means you can now have the country back, Chippewa Eagle. (Oh, waitguess who was absorbed in a merger?)
Raise A Glass &Remember
So to Mayfair and McKee, to Delta Wye and Bagumbayan, to Cintel and Seaford, to Sheet Metal Workers and United Workers, to Centel and Stevenson, to Ferrel Corp. and Fenwal, to Firestone Financial and Pacific Resource, to UniteHere, United Services, Amex United and United Chemi-con, to Chetco and Theo Davis, to Tahachapi and Kapalama Pacfic, to Ladish Community and to every community, to Capital CU and Capitol Region, we pause to say thank you SIR (FCU) and ma'am for your service to American consumers.
But most of all, as I reflect on those that have gone before us in 2013, I must admit my biggest regrets are these: I never attended an annual meeting at Polish Combatants CU, and I missed what I trust was a helluva wake at Irish Air Lines FCU.
So raise a glass and remember them. And let 2014 be the year you find a quiet corner of your own and resolve to keep a memorial service in the distant, distant future for your credit union.
Frank J. Diekmann can be reached at
