Lee Powell, manager of Desco Federal Credit Union’s definition of a good Human Resources (HR) person is spot on.
“You job to a large extent in HR is to provide a good environment for your employees to be successful and to be happy at what they’re doing,” Powell said. “And the fact that we have so many good employees who have been here a long time is a testament to what Joyce has done.”
Joyce is Joyce Myers, Vice President of Human Resources at Desco, who came to work for Desco when it was a fledgling operation with about $500,000 in assets, a company set up for employees of Detroit Steel Corporation.
“It was a store-front on Rhodes Avenue that was converted to the credit union,” Myers said. “When I came, I was the second full time employee (Janet Lewis) and we had a part time manager – Bud Duduit.”People would come in for a loan. We had to put their name on a list and when we got money in then we could loan it to them.”
They eventually obtained a community charter and became a community credit union. The first company to sign up with Desco was Southern Ohio Medical Center, and then came OSCO Industries, Southern Hills Hospital.
“I would have an office in those places and once a week, I’d come down on an afternoon and take loan applications and sign up people and take deposits,” Myers said. “It was old school. We didn’t get computers until 1979. We first moved into this building (401 Chillicothe Street) in 1979 and that’s when we got our big computer system.”
Myers has great insight as to why she has stayed in the same job for 50 years.
“I said, ‘well, I could go to Las Vegas and be a dancer and showgirl, but I didn’t have the legs and I couldn’t dance,” Myers said. “Or I could deal blackjack, but I’d rather play it than deal it, so I thought maybe I’d better stay at Desco.”
Desco is now a $250 million credit union and 50 years later, Joyce is calling it quits.
What are her retirement plans?
“I’ve got 20, 25, 30 year old closets that need cleaned. I’ve got stuff at home I’d like to take care of,” Myers said. “My husband bought me a fancy mixer last year for Christmas that I’ve used one time. I’d kind of like to make some bread. He even bought me a noodle maker to go on it. In 50 some years I’ve never been a housewife.”
Powell, whose father, Dick Powell, formerly managed Desco, says he will miss Joyce Myers for a lot of reasons.
“It has been outstanding,” Powell said. “You spend so much of your life at work and what kind of people do you like to be around? You like to be around people of very high character, people that are trustworthy, people that are loyal to the organization and with Joyce that is almost redundant.”
Powell said there is a line of succession ready to take over and he knows they are prepared for the job because they learned from one Joyce Myers who will leave an indelible memory in the hearts of the people who get up and go to work each day at Desco Federal Credit Union.
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