Our Family Social Credit Union began on June 26, 1950.  So, as of June 19 of this year (2010), we reached our sixtieth anniversary of  serving our cousins’ financial needs.  The credit union, now stronger than ever, currently has 488 active members and has had 689 members over its lifetime.  Every credit union lists, in its application for a charter, its field of membership, which is a listing of the criteria for membership in that credit union.  The field of membership for OFSCU includes all descendants of Lucy and Manley Williams and all those who marry any descendants.  So, to this day, every one of the 689 members of OFSCU is a cousin, either born into the family or married into the family.

The credit union was originally formed with the intent to pool money to assist family members in times of financial need.  Approximately 30 cousins living in Omaha in June of 1950 joined together to make their first share deposits after receiving their official charter from the state of Nebraska.  The Charter from the State of Nebraska for our credit union was officially issued on June 26, 1950, and OFSCU was born.

As of June 2010, the total shares of all members in OFSCU are $473,918.84.  This total increases each year, as many cousins deposit shares each month through our ACH program, so reaching the $500,000.00 level in shares is likely just a year or two away.  These shares have served the goals of our founding members well, as we have used that money to grant well over 2000 loans to cousins in our 60 years of existence.  We are also well past the $2,000,000.00 mark in total money loaned out.  As of June 2010, we had total assets of $524,422.51, having passed the one-half million-dollar mark in just the past year.

Since many parents enroll their children in the credit union soon after birth, we have a young membership overall, with roughly one-third of our members, at any given time, being under the age of sixteen.  As our shares, loan, and assets totals would indicate, we are a fairly small operation in the big picture of credit unions.  However, we have provided a very large and rewarding service to our members over the years, as any of our members would attest.

LOCATION:

The home office of OFSCU has always been in the Omaha area, as this is where the credit union began and where more members live than in any other single metropolitan area.  However, the family has spread out across the nation, and we now have cousin members in more than twenty states.  As all elected officials of the credit union are cousins, OFSCU truly believes in keeping this credit union business all in the family.

Rather than providing a list here of all the states in which our cousins currently live, we challenge you to check out our OFSCU Trivia section to see how many states you can name!!!

GOVERNANCE:

Our Family Social Credit Union is truly controlled by its shareholders.  The credit union’s Annual Meeting, to which all members are invited, is held in Omaha in even-numbered years.  In odd-numbered years, it is held in the Williams Family Reunion city, wherever that might be, on the first night of the Reunion.  At these Annual Meetings, the members elect fellow members to the Board of Directors and to the Credit Committee. 

There are seven members on the Board of Directors, each elected to three-year terms on a staggered basis.  This staggered-term format is designed to provide for both continuity and experience on the Board at all times.  The Board then meets immediately after the Annual Meeting adjourns to elect its own officers, including a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Communications Secretary, and Treasurer/Manager.  If an independent Manager is hired who is not an elected Board member, then the Manager and Treasurer work closely together to conduct the daily operations of the credit union.  The Board meets once every month, with additional special meetings called as needed.

The Credit Committee consists of three members also elected to three-year, staggered terms, with one elected at each Annual Meeting.  One member is then elected by that committee to serve as the Chair for the year.  The Credit Committee’s primary function is to consider all loan applications and vote to approve or to disapprove these applications based on a set of established criteria.  These members are invited to attend all monthly Board meetings, and, to their credit, often do.

The members of the Supervisory Committee are appointed by the Board each year at the first monthly Board meeting following the Annual Meeting.  The committee is made up of three or more volunteers who serve a one-year term and meet quarterly to conduct our internal Supervisory Audits of all our books.  In addition to these four internal audits, the credit union also undergoes an external examination by the Banking Department of the State of Nebraska once every eighteen months.  (Normally, the Banking Department conducts examinations of credit unions and banks once every twelve months.  It is due to our excellent history with the State of Nebraska Department of Banking that we have been placed in the once-every-18-months category of financial institutions.)  Finally, the credit union further augments its internal audits by employing the services of an outside accounting firm once each year.  These procedures provide ample checks and balances to assure members of the smooth and efficient operations of the credit union.

THE HUGH & LUCY DANAHY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM:

The “Hugh and Lucy Danahy Scholarship Fund” was established in 1979 to help cousins, of any age, continue their education beyond high school, whether at a trade school or university.  Awarded every two years at our Williams Family Reunion Banquet, two cousins can receive a $1000.00 scholarship.  One scholarship is awarded based on academic achievement and one scholarship is awarded based on financial need.

One of the most influential members of our credit union’s founding members was Hugh Danahy, who was married to Lucy (O’Hanlon) Danahy, daughter of Jim and Maud (Williams) O’Hanlon.  Hugh was a lawyer, and he was instrumental in helping draft the paperwork and application to acquire the state charter for our credit union in the summer of 1950.  His guidance was critical in the early years of our credit union, and he has always been viewed as part of the reason our credit union survived, and thrived, during its early growing years.  The idea of establishing a scholarship program to help cousins further their education was a logical extension of the spirit that created our credit union in the first place: helping our cousins.  After much discussion, it was agreed that the scholarship should be named in honor of Hugh Danahy, for all his work and dedication to the credit union and to the family.  Later, in recognition of her similar contributions to the family, Lucy’s name was added to create the final name: The Hugh & Lucy Danahy Scholarship.  It has become a wonderful and special tradition that the scholarships are announced and awarded at the Reunion Banquet by the children of Hugh and Lucy.

The first scholarship was for $500.00 and was awarded at the Banquet at the Omaha 1979 Reunion.  In its early years, just one scholarship was awarded, based on academic achievement.  As time went on, the family decided it would be appropriate to offer a second scholarship at each Reunion, with the second one to be awarded on the basis of financial need.  Also, as time went on and as the Scholarship Fund grew (through the contributions of family members), it was decided to increase the amount of each scholarship to the current level of $1,000.00.

In order to ensure objectivity and neutrality when reviewing applications, no family members are involved in any way in the process of selecting the scholarship winners.  With all the teachers in the family in the Omaha area, we are always able to obtain the services of Scholarship Committees from one of our local school districts and have them review all the applications and make the final selections.  Only the OFSCU Manager is informed of the Scholarship winners prior to the Reunion Banquet announcement.

We currently have a pledge program that allows members to have an amount of their choosing moved from their respective share accounts to the Scholarship Fund account once every year.  This account is a regular interest-bearing share account, so we get to watch it grow steadily year by year.  The balance in this account as of June 2010 was $27,564.20.  Our ultimate, long-range goal is to help the Scholarship Fund account reach the “magic level” of $33,333.33.  When we help the account reach that level, and if the account were to then earn dividends in the 3% range per quarter, then the Scholarship account would earn dividends of $2,000.00 every two years, allowing us to provide two $1,000.00 scholarships at each Reunion, using only the dividends earned in each two-year period, without ever touching the balance in the account.  At that point, the Scholarship Fund would become truly self-sustaining indefinitely into the future!  That is our magical, long-term goal for the Hugh & Lucy Danahy Scholarship Fund.

Consider helping us reach that wonderful milestone.  Our Manager can always provide you with information on how to pledge shares on a yearly basis to that account.  Information on how to apply for either of the two Scholarships will appear on this web site before, or by, January 1 of each Reunion year.

Please Note:  We also have one more scholarship that is available on a one-time basis only.  Marge (Noe) Reinmuth was the daughter of Katie (Williams) Noe.  Marge was married to A. I. “Pint” Reinmuth.  Marge was very active in civic affairs in Omaha, and she was a lover of the arts.  When Marge passed away, her children decided, in honor of their mother’s interests and passions, to pledge all the shares in Marge’s account toward a Scholarship to be awarded to a cousin studying graphic arts.  The account currently has a balance of just over $500.00.  This Graphic Arts Scholarship would be awarded on the basis of a combination of both academic achievement and financial need. 

The same Hugh & Lucy Danahy Scholarship application form is to be used when applying for this Scholarship.  Applicants would need to state on the application form that they are seeking the Marge Reinmuth Graphic Arts Scholarship.

When awarded, the entire balance in the account at the time of the Reunion would be awarded to the recipient, and then the account would be closed, so this truly is a one-time only Scholarship opportunity.  Just as is the case with the regular Hugh & Lucy Danahy Scholarships, the check for this scholarship will be made out to the school that the scholarship winner is attending, with verification required that the funds will go toward a Graphic Arts program.