75 YEARS OF
COMMUNITY BUILDING
– 4 –
75-YEAR VISION
A look back at the
places, people and
events that shaped
your credit union
– 14 –
THREE VOICES:
ONE VISION
See the evolution
of banking tech
since 1950
– 20 –
BUILDING
THE FUTURE
Getting ready for the
next 75 years with
a new head office
– 40 –
BOOKENDS
Financial insights
from two members
70-years apart
OUR CREDIT
UNION THROUGH
THE AGES
THE EVENTS, PLACES AND PEOPLE
THAT TOOK US FROM A SHOEBOX
OF SAVINGS TO 24 BRANCHES
ACROSS ALBERTA
VISION CREDIT UNION 75 YEARS / BRANCH NETwORK
Our hometowns.
COVER
Bryan Perkins (left) and Ben Bauman (right)
bookend the ages and stages of Vision Credit
Union’s members. Check out their distinct
thoughts on managing finances on pages
40 and 41.
1 Vision CEO, Steve Friend, stands in front of
The Bethany Group Corporate Office in
Camrose. During the 1950s, Rosehaven Care
Centre was housed in this heritage building
and its employees started a credit union that
would later become Vision Credit Union.
CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF
GROwING TOGETHER
STEVE FRIEND | CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, VISION CREDIT UNION
IT’S A REAL HONOUR to welcome you to
our 75th Anniversary magazine.
Whether you’re a member, an employee,
a board member or one of the many
neighbours in our branch communities
across Alberta, I want to start by saying
thank you. Vision Credit Union wouldn’t
be here without you.
Seventy-five years ago, a small
group of people working at the
Rosehaven care facility in Camrose
started something pretty special. They
didn’t have much to begin with – just
$178 in a shoebox and a shared belief
that they could build something better if
they did it together. That spirit of
cooperation and community is still the
heart of Vision Credit Union today.
We’ve come a long way since then.
We’ve grown from a single branch in
Camrose to 24 branches serving over
37,000 members across rural Alberta.
We’ve returned millions to our members
through our profit shares program. And
we’ve built one of Alberta’s strongest,
most community-minded financial
institutions by standing together with the
people and communities who built us.
The stories in this magazine celebrate
the real heart of Vision Credit Union –
our members and our people. You’ll
read about farm families who’ve built
their legacy with Vision by their side.
You’ll meet employees who go above
and beyond every day because they
believe in what they do. And you’ll see
how, for 75 years, Vision has been more
than a financial institution. It’s been a
partner, a neighbour and a steady hand
through good times and bad.
I’ve had the privilege of spending my
whole career at this credit union. I
started at the teller line and worked my
way up, mostly by learning from the
members I served. I’ve sat at kitchen
tables and in coffee shops across rural
Alberta, listening to what matters most
to people in our communities. It’s not
about rock-bottom rates and the newest
banking apps. It’s about trust,
relationships and knowing that the
people you deal with understand where
you come from.
As we celebrate this milestone, I’m
proud of what we’ve built together. I’m
even more excited about where we’re
headed next. The world keeps changing,
but one thing won’t: our commitment to
rural Alberta and the people who call it
home.
Thank you for 75
incredible years.
Here’s to the future
we’ll build together.
wELCOME \ VISION CREDIT UNION 75 YEARS
2
VISION CREDIT UNION 75 YEARS / CONTENTS
CONTENTS
A 75-YEAR VISION
What began as a shoebox of pooled
savings in a Camrose seniors’ home
grew through grit, vision and rural
values into Alberta’s second-largest
credit union. From battling recessions
to launching profit sharing, acquiring
BMO branches and uniting credit unions
across the province, Vision’s story is one
of growth, steady leadership and
unwavering community roots. And it
shows that when rural Albertans come
together, they can build something
that’s here for good. – 4
A UNIVERSAL KINDNESS
A desperate morning. An unexpected
act of kindness. When Grace Torpe
needed help, her credit union stepped
up in a way she’s never forgotten. – 11
BANKING ON THE FUTURE
As the banking world shifts underfoot,
Vision’s COO shares what’s coming
next and how Vision Credit Union plans
to stay one step ahead. – 12
THREE VOICES, ONE VISION
Three member stories. One shared
belief: real success is rooted in hard
work, community and a credit union
that helps along the way. – 14
Colin and Barbara Kroetsch – 15
Dale Van Dellen – 16
Marianne and Werner
Strohhaecker – 17
BUILT TO LAST: THE LEGACY
OF VISION’S LONGTIME LEADERS
For 75 years, three leaders have
guided Vision Credit Union forward
with a steady hand, strong values and
a deep belief in doing what’s right. – 18
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
With the current head office bursting at
the seams, Vision is investing in a new
head office building to take it into its
next 75-years. – 20
ROOTED IN COMMUNITY
At animal rescue charities, hockey
rinks and food banks across Alberta,
Vision employees are showing up for
their communities and proving that
when giving back is supported, it
goes even further. – 22
14
11
18
12
CONTENTS \ VISION CREDIT UNION 75 YEARS
40
CONTENTS
UNITED IN VISION: THE CREDIT UNIONS
THAT BECAME PART OF VISION’S STORY
From Encompass’ farm radio gatherings
to Pincher Creek’s wartime roots and
Caisse Horizon’s Francophone
beginnings in Girouxville, Vision’s
mergers reflect decades of rural
tradition. Each partner brought its
own story, from handshake banking,
to kitchen-table branches and deep
ties to community life. – 25
VISION’S INDUSTRY-LEADING
PROFIT SHARES PROGRAM
Vision’s industry-leading profit sharing
program returns 75 percent of the credit
union’s profits to members. Learn how
it started, how it works and how it has
grown since it began. – 30
STORIES FROM wITHIN
From heartfelt conversations to
hometown traditions, five employees
reflect on what makes Vision different.
Their stories show how connection, care
and conviction have shaped 75 years
of service – and continue to define
what banking means today. – 32
Dale Morrical – 33
Jennifer Young – 34
Dan Szott – 35
Luisa Davidse – 36
Austyn Fowler – 37
A STEADY HAND ON THE wHEEL
Vision Credit Union’s board has guided
the credit union through economic
downturns, technology changes,
mergers and personal loss, all with
uncommon consistency. – 38
BOOKENDS: BANKING THROUGH THE AGES
Meet Bryan and Ben, two Vision
members separated by seven decades.
One recalls bank books and Bel Airs,
the other dreams of Lamborghinis,
swimming pools and candy, but both
prove that saving money always starts
with imagination. – 40
ON THE BACK COVER
Member Colin Kroetsch shares his
perspective on 19 years of banking
with Vision Credit Union.
32
30
22
20
25
A 75-year vision.
It started as a shoebox of savings in a Camrose seniors’ home
and grew into one of Alberta’s strongest rural credit unions.
In the spring of 1950, in the break rooms and back hallways of Rosehaven
seniors’ care facility in Camrose, Alberta, a group of cooks, attendants, nurses and
custodians took hold of their financial futures. With just $178 and a cooperative
approach, 21 people ofcially launched a credit union that would help shape rural
Alberta for the next 75 years and beyond.
This was the beginning of Vision Credit Union’s story.
It’s your story, too.
4
VISION CREDIT UNION 75 YEARS / HERE FOR GOOD
1950
/ Camrose Savings and Credit Union Ltd.
incorporated to serve staff of Rosehaven
Institute. Membership: 21 and
assets: $178.
1957
/ Gerrit Oldekamp, an attendant at
Rosehaven, appointed Secretary of
the Credit Union.
1962
/ Credit union is moved from Oldekamp’s
home to a downtown office.
1964
/ Oldekamp becomes the credit union’s
first full-time manager.
HERE FOR GOOD \ VISION CREDIT UNION 75 YEARS
The Rosehaven years.
The staff at Rosehaven didn’t start with
the idea of creating a credit union. It
was the late 1940s, and the standard of
living in rural Alberta was modest. Life
was improving – but slowly – and
people were used to finding resourceful
solutions to challenging problems.
“It was just what they did to help each
other get by,” says Maureen Grove, a
retired manager of Corporate Services
at Vision. Her mother, Marjorie Grove,
was an aid at Rosehaven and one of the
early members of the credit union. “One
of the ladies there wanted to go on a
holiday. They all pooled their money
together so she could take some money
for this trip. Then they just kept it up –
whenever you had extra money, you put
it in the pot. That’s how it all started.”
It’s no surprise that folks at Rosehaven
looked to each other for support. In
those days, access to credit in rural
areas was limited. Chartered banks
typically wanted big down payments and
ultra low-risk loans. And they saw rural
borrowers as a bigger risk.
For the Rosehaven staff, risk wasn’t an
issue. “I asked Mom, ‘What if someone
didn’t pay?’ She said they always did…
they kept adding to the pot and more
people joined in,” says Grove.
After a few years of adding to the pot
(a shoebox, actually), the Rosehaven
staff made their financial collaboration
official. The Camrose Savings and
Credit Union received its official Alberta
Government charter on April 14, 1950.
For the first ten years, credit union
membership was limited to Rosehaven.
By 1957, it had grown to 50 members
and about $6,000 in assets. That same
year, a Rosehaven attendant named
Gerrit Oldekamp was appointed
Secretary Treasurer, a position he held
after the credit union opened up to
Camrose and District residents in 1961.
1960s growth:
Right time. Right model.
It didn’t take long before word got out
about the credit union in the Brunsdale
Building in downtown Camrose. By
1964, they had nearly 500 members,
and Oldekamp, who had been dividing
his time between his job at Rosehaven
and the credit union, became the first
full-time manager of Camrose Savings
and Credit Union. It was the start of
several years of rapid growth.
At the 1967 annual meeting,
Oldekamp reported that the credit
union’s total assets had increased by 59
percent, membership had grown to
1,122 and deposits had skyrocketed
945 percent from $24,000 to $230,000.
The timing was right. Across Alberta,
the 1960s ushered in a period of
optimism and change. The province was
enjoying a booming oil and gas sector,
while rural communities were
modernizing farms, expanding
businesses and building better lives.
Credit unions fit perfectly into this
moment. They offered fair, accessible
financial services rooted in trust and
community at a time when traditional
banks were skeptical about rural
borrowers. In Camrose, where people
were used to looking out for each other,
the co-operative model just made sense.
It wasn’t just about banking – it was
about building something together.
1970s: Branching out.
The 1970s brought a new level of
maturity to Alberta’s credit union
movement. They had acquired the legal
right to offer most financial services
available at chartered banks. As the
province’s economy surged with record
growth, credit unions evolved from
grassroots operations into more
sophisticated financial institutions.
1 Employees at the Rosehaven
institute, in this building, started
the credit union in 1950.
2 The new Camrose Savings and
Credit Union in 1969.
3 A Credit Union Federation
meeting in the 1960s as credit
union movement is growing.
4 Gerrit Oldekamp, General
Manager illustrates the growing
number of Camrose Savings and
Credit Union members in 1967.
1969
/ Built and opened new credit union
building on 51st Street in Camrose.
1972
/ Doubled building space. 18 staff
members, 4,412 members and
assets of $7.3 million.
1976
/ Opened a branch in Stettler and head
office in the Central Agencies building
in Camrose. Memberships: 7,819 and
assets: $31.6 million.
1976
/ Opened a branch in Duggan Mall
in Camrose. Plans put in place to
amalgamate with Flagstaff Credit
Union and to open a new branch
an Coronation.
6
VISION CREDIT UNION 75 YEARS / HERE FOR GOOD
At the Camrose Savings and Credit
Union branch on 51 Street, this
evolution was in full swing. Members
were greeted with a gleaming branch,
uniformed tellers and a range of
financial products.
The next step was growth. Between
1974 and 1978, the credit union
merged with J&L Credit Union and
Flagstaff Credit Union, and opened new
branches in Coronation, Stettler and at
Duggan Mall in Camrose.
By the time Oldekamp retired in
1979, the little credit union he’d spent
21 years building had changed its name
to Battle River Credit Union, grown to six
branches in five communities, and
increased to more than 10,000 members
and assets of nearly $50 million.
A new leader
for a new era.
If the 1970s were the time for credit
unions to show maturity and polish,
the period from 1978 to the mid-
1980s challenged credit unions to
tighten their belts and demonstrate
their value to members. Terry Kelly,
Battle River Credit Union’s second
general manager, was exactly the
leader for this moment.
Kelly was just 32 years old when he
became general manager. By all
accounts, he was a very different style of
leader. Whereas Oldekamp dialed in on
growing the credit union’s reputation
and membership in the flush ‘60s and
‘70s, Kelly had no choice but to focus
on efficiency in the gritty, recession-
gripped, high-interest environment of
the late ‘70s and ‘80s.
When Kelly took the helm in ‘79, he
inherited a credit union that had been
placed under ‘stabilization’ by the Credit
Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation
(CUDGC). In the mid to late 70s, Battle
River experienced a high level of loan
defaults, resulting in a million-dollar
loss. This meant that they couldn’t offer
loans without CUDGC approval. Kelly
had his work cut out for him.
In his first year, Kelly stripped back the
credit union’s expenses, reduced the
top-heavy staff by nearly 30 percent and
created a lean operation. “Those lean
times that Terry introduced were very
necessary to get the credit union back
on a good financial footing,” says
Mickey Mohan, who started as an
assistant branch manager in Stettler in
1978 and semi-retired as of Senior Vice
President of Operations in 2018.
Someone to count
on when the chips
are down.
Establishing a solid
financial footing at this
time was no small feat. The
1980s tested Albertans like
never before. Soaring interest rates
pushed mortgages into double digits
and strained household budgets across
the province. When interest rates spiked,
credit unions faced a tough balancing
act. Without access to the same
wholesale lending markets or deep
reserves as the big banks, they simply
couldn’t offer rates to compete.
These were challenging times for
Battle River Credit Union and even
1979
/ Gerrit Oldekamp retires. Terry Kelly
becomes General Manager. Head Office
relocated to basement of 51st Street
branch. Staff reduced by 28%.
1982
/ Installed Camrose’s first ATM
at the 51st Street branch.
1983
/ Created the Equity Reserve for
members, the roots of today’s profit
shares program. Constructed new
Sedgewick branch.
1984
/ Amalgamated with Vegreville and
District Savings & Credit Union. Name
changed to Battle River Credit Union Ltd.
HERE FOR GOOD \ VISION CREDIT UNION 75 YEARS
harder times for its members. And those
members needed answers. “Anytime a
member came in with a question about
interest rates, you were there at the
counter to explain the benefits of dealing
with the credit union over and above the
financial aspects,” says Mickey Mohan.
“It wasn’t uncommon to stand at that
front counter for several hours.”
Then, just as the double-digit interest
rates and national recession began to
ebb, Alberta was hit with a devastating
provincial recession driven by low oil
prices. Albertans were struggling, out of
work and defaulting on loans in larger
numbers than ever before. “It was the
worst economic time in my whole life,”
says Alan Fielding, who joined the credit
union’s board in 1981 and was Board
President until 2021. “The credit union
system was in serious risk of failing.”
Thanks to Terry Kelly’s focus on fiscal
discipline, Battle River Credit Union held
its own, but many other credit unions
teetered on the brink. If a credit union
had been allowed to fail, explains
Fielding, the impact would have been
ruinous for the whole system.
Fortunately, in 1985, the provincial
government decided to backstop the
Credit Union Deposit Guarantee
Corporation (CUDGC), stating that
if CUDGC couldn’t cover members’
deposits, the government would step
in and pay.
“For a financial institution, investor
and depositor confidence is everything…
After about eight or ten years, the whole
system got back on its feet,” says
Fielding. “Battle River Credit Union was
sort of in the vanguard of that because
we were doing okay.”
While the government supported a
system that it knew Albertans valued,
Battle River Credit Union and its
members supported each other. Steve
Friend, CEO of Vision Credit Union,
who started as a teller in 1983,
remembers that relationship well. “In
the early days, our rates weren’t as
good as what the banks were offering at
the time, but what we were able to offer
people was the fact that we were their
partner… somebody that they could
count on when the chips were down.”
Turning points
– profit sharing.
In 1983, in the depths of that economic
slump, then-Board President Leif Osback
proposed a Patronage Reserve for
members, the roots of Vision Credit
Union’s current profit sharing program.
“Leif believed in the value of giving
people back the profits,” says Steve
Friend. “He came up with a unique way
of doing it by returning profits to the
members that had borrowed money with
us and by bonusing the people that had
deposits with us.”
The plan was to achieve a Patronage
Reserve of 3.5 percent of assets by
1989. By 1988, the reserve had
surpassed this goal, and the credit
union began issuing dividends to
members. It was a welcome turning
point for the credit union.
“The biggest change we felt in the
branch was after the (prime rate) went
down, with the introduction of the
common shares. That’s when we started
to gain an advantage over other
competitors,” says Mickey Mohan, who
was managing the Duggan Mall branch
at the time.
“And so the credit union gained
strength,” explains Friend. “The more
that people dealt with us, the more we
were able to pay them back through
profit share.”
Today, Vision Credit Union allocates
about 75 percent of its profits each year
to its profit share program, which offers
some of the highest returns per member
in the country.
1 The second location of the
Camrose Savings and Credit
Union branch.
2 The exterior of the Flagstaff Credit
Union branch in Sedgewick.
3 Gerrit Oldekamp and credit
union board members at the
AGM in 1975.
4 Uniformed staff at the 51 Street
branch in 1972.
5 Mickey Mohan, former Senior Vice
President of Operations started at
the credit union in 1978.
6 GM Terry Kelly (front, centre)with
head office staff in the 1980s.
7 Steve Friend, now CEO, at head
office in 2002.
1988
/ Constructed new branch in Viking. Issued
first profit shares dividends to members.
Assets: $56.5 million.
1991
/ Added a second story to head
office building. Assets: $70.4 million
1996
/ Introduced Mutual Funds,
Teleservice, and Choice Rewards.
Assets: $105.5 million.
1998
/ Introduced Internet Banking Service.
Moved Duggan Mall branch to
newly built West End Branch.
Assets: $132 million.
8
VISION CREDIT UNION 75 YEARS / HERE FOR GOOD
Building the
credit union.
As the 1980s gave way to the ‘90s,
the somber tone of the Board Directors’
reports shifted to restrained optimism.
The credit union had weathered the
worst the economy could throw at it.
Annual reports detailed building
upgrades, community donations, stable
reserves and profit share dividends.
The new Credit Union Act required all
credit unions to achieve a five percent
Equity Reserve of Assets before 1999.
“Battle River Credit Union has already
achieved reserves of seven percent,”
said Alan Fielding in the 1989 Director’s
Report. That year, Fielding became
president of the Board, taking the helm
after the passing of Lief Osback, who
served as director from 1981 to 1989.
Although the 1990s were a decade of
fiscal restraint, economic restructuring
and recovery in Alberta, Battle River
Credit Union continued to gradually
grow its membership and assets. A new
story was added to the Camrose head
office building. After 11 years working
in the 51st Street branch basement,
head office staff got to move upstairs.
The West End branch was built,
branches were renovated and
technology was updated. By the credit
union’s 50th Anniversary in 1999, it had
achieved more than $143 million in
assets. It was hard-won, steady growth.
Doubling down
on rural Alberta.
On February 16, 2000, just two
months into the new millennium, things
took a sharp upturn.
The Bank of Montreal had announced
the sale of 34 of its prairie branches –
they were focusing on urban centers.
They approached the credit unions in
these rural markets to broker a sale.
“We made a commitment as a credit
union system to maintain financial
services in those rural communities,”
says Amy Gertsma, VP Digital
Transformation at Vision who has
worked at the credit union in Wainwright
for 28 years. Wainwright Credit Union
bought branches in Hughenden, Irma,
Chauvin and Edgerton from the Bank of
Montreal.
Battle River Credit Union was offered
seven branch locations in Alliance,
Daysland, Killam, Sedgewick, Viking,
Castor and Two Hills, which would
nearly double its branch numbers.
“Terry (Kelly’s) eyes lit up because it
was time for some growth for the
organization,” says Ron Pilger, a board
member since 1993. “At the time of the
BMO acquisition, Vision was getting by
with meager profits, and we had been
going along much the same from year
to year and gradually growing.”
The board was initially less
enthusiastic than Kelly, remembers
Pilger. If the Bank of Montreal couldn’t
make these branches profitable, how
could the credit unions? Ultimately, the
board got on side. “We saw it as an
opportunity to grow,” says Pilger.
CUDGC, the credit union oversight
body, was much more skeptical, sending
a pointed letter to Kelly outlining their
concerns. Kelly and the board decided
to proceed with the purchase of the
branches anyway. “Terry kept that letter,
and he proved them all wrong 100
times over,” says Maureen Grove, who
worked in head office at that time.
“There was a strong business case for
it. And the results bore that out,” says
Pilger. The branches soon became
profitable, and the Battle River Credit
Union recouped the investment cost
within a year. “The Bank of Montreal
purchase moved us from $144 million
to over $303 million in assets almost
overnight.”
2000
/ Purchased seven Bank of Montreal
branches with five new locations
for a total of 11 branches.
Assets: $303 million.
2003
/ Opened newly renovated City Centre
branch. Renovated head office.
Assets: $338 million.
2009
/ Renovated the Castor branch.
Installed ATM at Vegreville branch.
Assets: $358 million.
2009
/ Terry Kelly, Battle River Credit
Union’s general manager of 30 years,
passes away. Board appoints Steve
Friend as CEO.