Dearborn FCU looks to past and future at golden anniversary celebration

DEARBORN, Mich.-More than 650 members of Dearborn Federal Credit Union gathered together at the Henry Ford Museum to celebrate a particularly nostalgic milestone at Michigan's largest federal credit union, its golden anniversary. "Our history with Ford and the exhibits in the museum made this an ideal location to gather and reminisce about the roots of our organization as we look forward the future," said Dearborn FCU President Ron Unger. Among members who attended the festivities was Thelma Erdos of Arizona, Dearborn's first founding member, who said the growth through the years to what it is today has been nothing less than astounding. "This has been very interesting and truly rewarding," Erdos said. "Our original stake was just $5 per person and didn't it mushroom? We now have 170,000 or more members around the world, and more than a billion dollars in assets." Another guest who attended the event from out of state was Dearborn's first General Manager Don MacKinnon, who now resides in Florida. "Don set the standard for service quality from the day he started, and he never wavered over the years," said Executive Vice President Tom Moylan. "He brought about many innovative services that have been copied by other credit unions across the country." The anniversary celebration provided Dearborn officials an opportunity to give special thanks to the small group of founding members and staff who years ago took the initial steps in the formation of the FCU and then helped guide it during its early years. "We were particularly pleased that three of our seven founding members and representatives of other founders' families were able to join us for this meeting," noted Chairman Harold Lowman. "We pay tribute to them for pooling $5 each to make their vision of a successful credit union a reality." Founding members received commemorative plaques. A video featuring historic photos of FCU members, staff, facilities and elections over the years of the boards also was shown members and friends, allowing them a glimpse into the past the FCU's colorful and eventful past. "The evening at Henry Ford Museum was a wonderful tribute to the history of our federal credit union," Unger said. "But even more importantly, it marked the milestone that starts us off on our next 50 years of providing superior financial services to our members just as we always have done, one member at a time." -lide@cutimes.com