AA Credit Union

24 | | Spring 2016 Celebrating 80 years of service Special offers and contests are all part of our 80th anniversary celebration. Plus, all of our 45 nationwide branches are having celebrations of their own. For complete details DERXWWKHRQHQHDUHVW\RXYLVLWRXUDQQLYHUVDU\ZHEVLWHDW2ZQHU5HZDUGV .AACreditUnion.org. And don't forget you can keep up with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest scoop on our 80th Anniversary. In April 1919, Vernon was honorably discharged and began one of his most ambitious aviation ventures to date, forming the Oregon- Washington-Idaho Airplane Company with two other pilots in Portland, Oregon. The company struggled for two years as commercial aviation failed to catch on and was forced to put the business into receivership by the start of the Depression in 1921. After a fairly successful run in the investment business (until the VWRFNPDUNHWFUDVKRI9HUQRQUHWXUQHGWRKLV¿UVWORYHZRUNLQJ IRUWKH&XUWLVV$LUSRUWV&RPSDQ\EHIRUHMRLQLQJWKHQHZO\IRUPHG American Airways, Inc. as a vice president and general manager of its Colonial Airways Division in Newark, New Jersey. After spending nearly three years recovering from a near-fatal automobile DFFLGHQWLQ9HUQRQUHMRLQHG$PHULFDQ $LUOLQHV LQ -XQH RI LQ &KLFDJR DV SHUVRQQHO GLUHFWRU XQGHU 3UHVLGHQW &5 Smith. His daughter, Betty, came to work for him after learning stenography. Vernon credits her with helping him start the Credit Union, noting sadly that she later passed away from complications when her appendix burst, despite hundreds of employees offering their blood for transfusions. Vernon remained with the company until his retirement in 1948. He passed away March 17, 1967, in Huntsville, Alabama. By the time of his death, American Airlines Credit Union was well on its way to becoming an industry leader, largely in part to the vision of a man who aimed his sights high and was never afraid to make the next leap skyward. Todd Camp is the Marketing Communications Manager for American $LUOLQHV)HGHUDO&UHGLW8QLRQDQGVHUYHVDVWKHLUXQRI¿FLDOKLVWRULDQ as well. Before coming to the Credit Union, he was a feature writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for 18 years. 9LFWRU9HUQRQOHIWHQMR\LQJWLPH with his daughter Betty (right) and his granddaughter Betsy (center). 24 | | Spring 2016 C O M M ER C I AL A VI A T I O N

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