After decades of volunteering his time at REGIONAL Federal Credit Union, Bob Urick was awarded the Millie Cox Scholarship Award by the Indiana Credit Union League this February.
Millie Cox was previously the vice president of governmental affairs at the Indiana Credit Union League. After dedicating herself to the credit union world for nearly three decades, she was named a Sagamore of the Wabash by the late Governor Frank O’Bannon. Having been the vessel through which this selfless woman bettered the community, the Indiana Credit Union League developed the Millie Cox Scholarship Award to recognize other stellar individuals in the field.
“Millie Cox exemplified the spirit of the credit union movement. I didn’t have the chance to meet her, but what I’ve heard about her is that she was a great person,” Urick said.
The Millie Cox Scholarship Award will pay Urick’s way to the upcoming Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington D.C.; an expense that normally fell on the credit union. At the conference, credit union representatives from across the nation come together with the purpose of getting involved with legislators. Urick has attended this conference for the past 10 years to advance the credit union’s philosophy and secure its place as a viable financial institution.
“I feel very honored to receive the award,” Urick said. “Many of those that have received the award before me were more involved and hands-on, but I think what carries the weight for me is my longevity. I stuck with it for so long, and it’s been a big part of my life.”
Urick was first attracted to the credit union in the late 60s by its member-oriented philosophy. At the time, he was a math teacher at Hammond High School looking for a way to participate in something as a volunteer, and he thought this was the right opportunity for him. In 1971, he became a member of the supervisory committee and eventually became a board member of the credit union.
On the supervisory committee, Urick recalled working late into the night to make sure the books were balanced before hiring a professional auditing firm for that purpose. He also witnessed the construction of the branches in Hammond, Valparaiso, and Portage first-hand.
After 37 years of working at the high school, he retired in 2003 and has since poured even more time into the credit union. The enduring spirit of volunteerism as well as the credit union’s expansion over the years motivated him to stick with it.
“One of the things that has kept me going is that we started out with assets of less than $1 million, and now our assets are over $160 million,” Urick said. “Being a board member, I have an opportunity to approve those things and give input. I have to give a large share of the credit to our leadership which has worked so diligently.”
Urick would like to thank his friend Rich Willis who got him involved in the supervisory committee, Marshall Del Greco, one of the credit union’s lending officers, President and CEO Jill Banning, and his wife for her patience. He credits these people with motivating him to continue with the credit union for so long.
“What has kept me going is being associated with these people, a lot of whom were a lot more qualified than myself financially,” Urick said. “The other stuff would not have happened without being associated with the kind and qualified people that worked with on the board.”
To learn more about REGIONAL Federal Credit Union, visit https://www.regionalfcu.org/
