VANCOUVER, Wash. — A credit union activist who played a key role in opposing a credit union's conversion to a mutual bank has had her home vandalized.
Cathryn Chudy, vice president of the Save Columbia Credit Union members group who has been involved in a long running fight with the $779 million Columbia Community Credit Union, has had her home vandalized in a way that suggests a link between the vandalism and the CU issue.
Between 7 a.m. on June 1 and 3:00 p.m. on June 2, someone scrawled the letters CCU on many of Chudy's windows in a white, chalky substance. Police have been notified and are investigating.
Chudy said she had spent the night of June 1 away from home and that her sister had found the lettering when she had come by to bring in Chudy's recycling containers. She added that the white substance appeared to have been applied with a brush, but that, so far, it remained unidentified and did not seem inclined to come all the way off.
"If you look closely at the letters they look like someone put them on with a brush because the lettering at the top of the 'C' is thicker than at the bottom," Chudy said. "But nobody has been able to tell me yet what it is. I have taken samples of it to paint stores and they say it is not paint but some have suggested it might be primer, which would be worse because it's harder to get off windows."
Chudy said that her older home has several windows that are multi-pane and which were singled out for defacement.
Chudy, who was elected to the CU board in the wave of member anger after the failed conversion attempt, was later stripped of her board seat and CU membership in November of 2006. During the several electoral and balloting fights Chudy and other activists said the CU went out of its way to vilify and condemn them and they suspect someone with access to credit union records might have committed the vandalism since Chudy's telephone number and address are unlisted.
Colleen Boccia, spokesman for the CU, was quoted in an article in a local
paper about the vandalism as expressing regret for Chudy's sake and hoping
"that the police are successful in uncovering who used our name in such an irresponsible manner."
Top Cherry Blossom Runners Honored
WASHINGTON — The top credit union runners from the 2007 Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run received their honors at an awards luncheon at the World Bank hosted by Bank-Fund Staff Federal Credit Union May 30.
The team of runners from the Bank-Fund Staff FCU, "The Bank-Fund Flyers," ran the fastest combined team time ever posted in the Credit Union Team Challenge, with a time of 3 hours 5 minutes and 39 seconds.
They were honored with the Credit Union Cup trophy presented to Stephen Breed, managing director of Bank-Fund Staff FCU, by Credit Union Miracle Day, Inc. Chairman Juri Valdov, president/CEO of Northwest Federal Credit Union. The team also received a plaque and running gloves from Race Director Phil Stewart.
A total of 34 credit union teams participated in the credit union competition during the race held April 1.
The top male runner of the credit union challenge was Martin Lanz of the "Bank-Fund Flyers" with a new course record of 54:35. The top female runner was Betsy Eames of Northwest FCU's "Northwest Xcellence" team, with a time of 1:05:26. Both received plaques and running gear, presented by CUMD Vice Chair Theresa Mann, president/CEO of FDIC Federal Credit Union.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.