ELLISVILLE, Miss. - Go ahead and call Lorena Matthews "aSouthern gal." She didn't mind being teased with that nickname byher associates when she served as the last deputy administrator tothe NCUA, and she doesn't mind it now. That was in 1977 andLawrence Connell had been named the last administrator of the NCUA- he was subsequently named the first chairman of the NationalCredit Union Administration in 1979 when the NCUA administrator wasreplaced with a three-member board. Matthews also served as deputyadministrator to Connell's predecessors - General Herman NickersonJr. (appointed 1970) and C. Austin Montgomery (appointed 1976).Before that she served on the NCUA six-person advisory board as itsonly female member. Matthews is 91 years old now and lives byherself in the house she lived in and built with her husbandClayton Lamar Matthews who died in December 2003. They'd beenmarried 33 years. A native of Meridian, Miss. - located about 125from where she lives now - Matthews has two stepchildren who livein Kentucky and Illinois. She spends her time these days playingbridge and doing work for her church. But she remembers fondly thetime she spent working at Y-12 FCU, Oakridge, Tenn. as manager andtreasurer, her days at NCUA, and her involvement with NAFCU. "Inever regretted going to work in the morning, no matter how muchwork I knew was waiting for me," she says. "I loved my work withcredit unions. I love the idea of helping people better theirlives, and it gave me a great feeling of satisfaction when I wenthome from work knowing I helped someone. It's such a busy world nowwe sometimes don't have time to do that," Matthews adds. Matthewsconveyed that attitude in her work, and the people she worked withremember that about her. "Lorena was a class act," recalls RosemaryHardiman who worked at NCUA as Connell's executive assistant whenhe was administrator. She subsequently became secretary of theboard when the agency became a three-person board. "She is everyinch a classy Southern woman and she set an example when she waswith the NCUA," Hardiman continues. "Everything you think of interms of graciousness and Southern hospitality she exemplified."With her experience of having worked with Y-12 FCU, Hardiman saysMatthews "was able to provide the administrator with a perspectiveof how different policies would affect credit unions on aday-to-day basis. She was very involved." Connell, who is now vicechairman of Riggs Bank in Washington, D.C. expresses similarrecollections of Matthews. "Lorena is a lovely lady and a finewoman. She loved the credit union movement and was very savvy inunderstanding people," he says. "When I first came to NCUA I hadbeen the bank commissioner in the state of Connecticut andregulated state-chartered credit unions there. Lorena knew NCUA andprovided me a continuity of knowledge. She was always very helpfuland loyal and could advise you about people in the credit unionmovement." Jim Barr, executive vice president (now referred to aspresident/CEO position) of NAFCU from 1970-1978, also remembersMatthews fondly as being very people oriented and fiercely loyal toher friends. "My first close encounter with Lorena was at NAFCU'sannual meeting in July 1971. NAFCU had a very small staff then. Shewas there with her husband Lamar who our spouses affectionatelyreferred to as their `den daddy.' "There were only a few women whowere extremely prominent in the credit union movement at the time,"Barr continues, "and Lorena was definitely one of them." Barropines that Matthews has left a three-tiered legacy to the creditunion movement: the first, he says, is her career with Y-12 FCU andher involvement with various credit union organizations such as theTennessee Credit Union League and CUES; tier two includes herinvolvement on the six-person NCUA Advisory Board "which had anexalted position in the credit union world." Barr adds that,"Lorena was able to move through three different administrators whowere appointed by three different presidents from two differentparties, and she did that admirably. First she was able to smoothout Gen. Nickerson's rough edges. Montgomery was 180-degreesremoved from Nickerson. With Connell, you had a very professionaladministrator." The third tier of Matthews' legacy, says Barr, iswhat she brought to the NCUA from the regulatory side. "Hercontribution was one of being a diplomat back to credit unions. Sheput a human face on the NCUA administration." Barr still talks toMatthews regularly, and the last time he saw her was a little overa year ago. "I definitely owe her a visit," he says. Friends ofLorena Matthews who would like to contact her can reach her at(601) 477-8853 -

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