Our state and national movement suffered a major blow with the loss of our colleague, our chairman, Bill Sterner, who collapsed at the start of the Credit Union Association of Colorado's annual Legislative Forum on March 28 in the State Capitol. Just a few short days later, Bill was gone.

There are all sorts of words and phrases that come to mind about Bill's death--"untimely," "unjust," "in a blink of an eye"--these, and countless more, all describe the feelings we cope with in trying to understand and process how someone so full of life, so vibrant, and such a great credit union leader, could be here one day and then gone the next.

After Bill suffered his heart attack on Friday morning, we all asked ourselves if we should continue with the Legislative Forum or call a halt to everything while we waited for news on his condition. The answer to that question was not easy, but it was clear: Bill Sterner would have been the first to tell us to "carry on," to get to work and to make things happen for the greater good. So, we did, but not without great effort, because all of us were worried and anxious about Bill.

The forum was a great success. On display was the growing clout of our movement, something we have purposefully built over the past few years to improve the lot of every credit union in Colorado and to make us grow. Even without his physical presence, I know Bill would have been smiling, seeing how well the meeting went.

In the days following Bill's illness and then death, as I communicated with CUNA, other state league presidents and countless other credit union leaders across the country, it became obvious what a unique individual Bill Sterner was--something we perhaps took for granted because he was here and just one of us. Bill was not just known nationally--he was universally respected and admired across the land--as a true leader for credit unions. Bill's passing is not just a Colorado loss; it is a national and international loss.

Most of us see the role of volunteerism in our movement on a daily basis--the hard and selfless work of our elected, uncompensated boards of directors, the day-to-day community involvement of our staff and members and the special projects that we all tackle.

From my vantage point, I also see the hard work and efforts of our association's board of directors, our committees and our task forces. Without the willingness of CEOs, senior managers and board members to give freely of their time, this association could not function.

The apex of these voluntary efforts--the place where the rubber meets the road--resides in the office of chairman of CUAC. Hardly a week went by when Bill Sterner and I did not talk, or meet or plan--multiple times--for the present and future success of our association. A planned 10-minute call would easily turn into 30; a short meeting would transmute into a long one; and a simple issue would take on complexity that neither of us could have predicted.

Bill was never too busy to break loose the time to deal with association issues. He drew on his vast history in the movement to guide all of us in the right direction--but he never did so with a harsh word or force--it was his personality and gentle persuasion that carried the day. He also leavened any dispute or problem with a healthy dose of humor and a wry smile for the sometimes contradictory pressures we face daily at CUAC.

His legacy at the association includes a new 21st Century headquarters for CUAC, finalized on his watch. A statewide branding campaign that is beginning to bear fruit; programs for small credit union growth and a new financial literacy offering, FoolProof, that we hope will quickly grow into a national program, available to all credit unions. He also (mercifully) could converse with our Ecuadorian partners in fluent Spanish when they visited Colorado, undoubtedly sparing us an international incident. Bill was a renaissance chairman in every sense of the word.

The work will always be there; what made it easier was Bill Sterner's wisdom, advice, wit and hard work for all us. Bill never entered the association headquarters and made a beeline to my office. Instead, he stopped along the way, greeting staff, asking how things were going and making everyone feel like they were part of something larger than just themselves. We will miss him dearly.

CUAC's staff and board, now led by Vice Chairman Doug Ferraro, will honor Bill's memory by moving forward, knowing that is what he would have wanted us to do. Doug will be another in a long line of great chairs of CUAC, all of which have worked hard for our Colorado credit union movement. We will do more great things with Doug's leadership and future successes will be in our windshield, but Bill's contributions will not fade.

On the back of the program at Bill's service was a poem--"End of Day." It ends with the words "miss me, but let me go." Bill Sterner's death makes letting him go a necessity; missing him will be the hardest part. Thanks for all you did for us, Mr. Chairman.

John Dill
President/CEO
Credit Union Association of Colorado