Our History

We’ve got some deep roots here.

It started all the way back in the 1950s when parishioners of the St. Francis Xavier Church got together with clergy to begin talks of starting their own credit union. The group enlisted the help of the Michigan Credit Union League, specifically D. J. McKinnon. Together, they began the process and on April 5, 1951, a credit union was founded. The original clergy were A.J. LeRoux and Hugolinus Keiner. The original charter was signed by James F. Behan, Louis Fochtman, Norbert Wegemer, Leo M. Lister, Donald F. Krusell, Wilbur Krusell, Casper Goldsmith and John Coveyou.

Our first Board of Directors had Eugene Coveyou as president, Don Krusell as vice president, Marilyn Fettig as treasurer, Hugolinus Keiner as clerk and James Behan as director. Soon after the original elections, Louis Fochtman, Fred Hoffman and Fred Foltz were elected as directors. The first supervisory committee included Barb Saller, Arnold Sherry and William Gibson. The first credit committee was comprised of Louis Fochtman, Fred Hoffman and Fred Foltz Sr.

The Credit Union grew slowly in the early years, running the organization out of the church monastery. It eventually moved to the Knights of Columbus Hall over Leo’s Bar, then to an upstairs office in the old Cook Building, and lastly to an upstairs office over the Woolworth Five and Dime building on East Mitchell. By 1959 they hired the CU’s first paid employee, Martin Beer. In 1963 the CU opened its first office at 224 State Street, and by the end of the year the CU reached a milestone of $1 million in assets. It would take all the way until 1972 before we broke the $2 million mark.

By the early 80s, the CU saw a few management changes and hired our third manager, Mike Kuhna, who guided the CU through nearly the next 18 years. During this time, the CU introduced Checking Accounts, Credit Cards and Mortgage Loans. Assets breaching $24 million spurred the opening of the second branch in 1993. The branch was constructed at 2140 M-119, the current main office. By 2000, the CU had passed the $30 million asset mark.

The CU transitioned yet again during the next decade with a website, new data processing system, computers at our branches, debit cards, home banking, three new ATMs, and the opening of our third branch in Harbor Springs in 2004, along with many new loan products and financial services.

The fourth branch opened in the old Rotary Park location in 2016 and has been a real hit as one of our busiest locations. The strong growth continues today as the CU has grown well past the $140 million asset mark and now has most any product or service you could think of.

And, if you are reading this, you have already experienced our new website! Try out our new smart speaker banking–you know, Alexa. Members can now check balances, pay loans, transfer money, as well as many other features. Remote Deposit Capture, also a newer service, allows you to snap a picture of a check and deposit it to your account from almost anywhere. Wow, we really do have it all.

St. Francis X FCU remains one of the strongest financial institutions in the country. We take pride in providing the absolute best value in banking that we know of, along with state of the art technology. We have some of the best folks around to serve you, too. Let us know how we can help—simply call, click or stop by!

St. Francis Credit Union, friends serving neighbors since 1951.