10.17.06
International Credit Union Week
This week is International Credit Union Week. There are more than 157 million credit union members worldwide, so it is easy to see that the not-for-profit, member-owned organizations are alive and well.
Last Tuesday, a new exhibit devoted to my father’s life and Credit Union work was unveiled at America’s Credit Union Museum in Manchester, New Hampshire. Invited guests and dignitaries attended. The three speakers included Peter Hildreth, State Banking Commissioner, Denise Caristi, CEO of Granite State Credit Union, and me, the youngest daughter of John E. Grace, a man who founded a total of seventeen credit unions in the state during his lifetime including Utility Workers Credit Union, now called Granite State Credit Union.
John Grace was Manager/Treasurer of Utility Workers Credit Union that served members who worked for Public Service Co. of NH, and the Manchester Transit Authority. In June 1945, two months before the end of World War II, he founded UWCU. He started the organization with a $15.00 deposit which in today’s world would be the equivalent of about $169.00.
In March, I had called the CEO and had offered her a framed photo of my Dad. He passed away in 1974, and no one knew much of anything about John Grace, if they even remembered his name, so it was a great surprise to her to hear from me.
Based on ephemera and photos, I wrote a book about his life, one dedicated to the service of others. A very religious individual, my father belonged to many organizations, not the least of which were men’s Catholic groups and labor unions. Part of his success in establishing credit unions was his ability to give speeches and to network. His sense of humor and pleasant ways won hearts, as did his humility. He built the credit union via personal contacts and the trust of all who knew him as an honest man.
He was active in civic affairs and always participated in any way in which he could to help the two communities where he lived during most of his life, Manchester and Deerfield, NH. Now he is at peace, next to his wife of many years, and surrounded by the monuments of neighbors and friends he knew in the sleepy little town that was his last home. The praying hands that are carved into his/their gravestone tell the story of a faith-based life.
In ending my talk at the museum event, I quoted Robert Frost who once said that everything he had learned about life could be summed up in just three words: “It goes on.” Proof of this statement was clearly apparent, if one looked at the audience. Four of John Grace’s seven grandchildren, and three of his ten, soon to be eleven, great-grandchildren were in attendance. At three months old, and two years old (two of them), they are too little to understand the special event now, yet it is important that they were there. The two youngest boys in the greater family will have newspaper photos of themselves to “remember” the day. The Manchester Union Leader newspaper published on Monday, October 16, 2006 celebrated International Credit Union Week with a series of articles in the Business section.
Sometimes, something happens that will never be repeated. Even though my Dad never sought personal recognition or credit for anything he did, I can’t help but hope that he would be pleased with this posthumous tribute. I greatly appreciate my father’s contributions to his family and to the world at large, and I miss him dearly. Were he alive, he would be 95 years old. Although he lived to be only 63, he embraced life fully and gave it his best.
The museum exhibit will be in place for awhile, so if you are in the area, you would enjoy a trip there.
I am so thankful to America’s Credit Union Museum and Peggy Powell, Executive Director, for her assistance in planning the museum exhibit for my Dad. I salute Granite State Credit Union for underwriting the museum exhibit. Jody Ducharme, an employee of GSCU, was absolutely terrific in her attention to details while planning the special day. The designers who created a display panel and put together a display case of Dad’s artifacts, did wonderfully well. All who worked on food preparation outdid themselves. I am happy that so many friends and family members could be at the gala museum opening. Two nieces traveled all the way from California, and my son came up from Rhode Island. To all who helped in any way, if only by being present, we thank you for sharing this special event.
Family members attending the event were left to right: Loretta Grace, daughter-in-law of John Grace and her three month old granddaughter, Jenna Van Dyke; Amy Winterer De Noble of California, (granddaughter of John Grace); Patricia Grace Cummings, (daughter of John Grace), and her son, James Gorham of Rhode Island, (grandson of John Grace); Sandra Grace Van Dyke (youngest grandchild of John Grace), holding her two year old son, Garrett Van Dyke; and Audrey Winterer Chavez from California, (granddaughter of John Grace), with her two year old son, George Chavez.
See http://www.quiltersmuse.com/granite_state_credit_union_founder.htm
Patricia Cummings
