Historic Louisiana

LOUISIANA
FEDERAL
CREDIT UNION
✧
Above: Ronald E. Thomas, Sr. helped found
and was the first manager of what is now
Louisiana Federal Credit Union.
Below: Louisiana Federal Credit Union’s
new LaPlace Branch, located at 350 Belle
Terre Boulevard, opened January 7, 2002.
COURTESY OF PORTRAITS BY SUSIE.
HISTORIC LOUISIANA
128
“It’s about people helping people,” insists
Ronald E. Thomas, Sr., who in 1935 helped
found and was the first manager of what is
now Louisiana Federal Credit Union. It began
as the Norco Refinery Employees Federal
Credit Union, and in the 1990s was renamed
Louisiana Federal Credit Union and added
other Select Employer Groups.
Thomas, a Kansas City native who was
transferred to Norco by Shell in 1929 and
retired after fifty-nine years with the company,
recalls that a credit union representative visited
and made a presentation, and “before we got
our charter we had 107 people signed up.”
Originally the credit union office was at
the main gate of the refinery, and it was a
popular spot. Having a credit union and
payroll deductions meant that workers could
save their money and handle debts and
health crises more easily. Annual meetings
could be fun, too. “One year the meeting was
in the gym and people were able to dance,”
Thomas added.
Thomas’s wife of sixty-eight years, Helen
Marie Muller Thomas, also worked actively for
the credit union. “I think our first loan was
$25,” Mrs. Thomas said. She remembers
families who were able to educate their
children and buy homes with the credit
union’s help. Some families have had members
for four generations.
As Rhonda Hotard, now president of
Louisiana Federal Credit Union, explained,
“Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are such an important
part of our credit union. They help us
remember where we started.”
Today, with nearly nineteen thousand
members, Louisiana Federal Credit Union still
exists for the same good reason it was
founded: to serve the financial needs of
members with a personal touch. Credit unions
are “not-for-profit” financial institutions where
profits are returned to members in the form of
lower loan rates, higher savings rates, and
other free or affordable services.
Louisiana Federal Credit Union has three
branches: at 1001 Third Street in Norco; 350
Belle Terre Boulevard in LaPlace, and at 42162
Veterans Avenue in Hammond, Louisiana. All
three locations offer drive up services. As
participating members of the Credit Union
Service Center Network, Louisiana Federal
Credit Union members can use facilities at
7018 Siegen Lane in Baton Rouge, 5500
Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie and
at 5848 Line Avenue in Shreveport, as well as
in one hundred cities nationwide.
Louisiana Federal Credit Union can be
found on the Internet at www.lafed.org.
Future plans include expedited loan services,
with a goal of 15-minute turn-around during
working hours, and home banking over the
Internet. At whatever hour, members can
always dial the CALL24 automated response
unit at 1-888-888-0024 to complete a wide
variety of transactions.
“We’re still about people helping people,”
Rhonda Hotard explained.