JACKSONVILLE, Fla.–Michael Cascone, Sr., who helped in 1952 to found what is now Vystar Credit Union, is retiring from the board after 63 years as a volunteer.
Cascone, 94, co-founded the CU for military and civil service personnel at Jacksonville Naval Air Station when it was inside a barracks and its presence was announced with a simple banner reading “Credit Union.” The CU was chartered with less than $100. Today that same CU has a 100,000-square-foot building, $5.5 billion in assets and 486,000 members. The headquarters building is named in honor of Cascone.
“I never thought it would be this big, absolutely not,” Cascone told the Florida Times Union. “It sort of built on itself, really, because of the service that we gave to the members and the opportunity for them to get good credit.”