JACKSONVILLE, Fla.–To mark its 65th anniversary, VyStar Credit Union challenged its members with an “Oldest Artifact Contest,” asking them to dig up and share their oldest items with a VyStar or Jax Navy Federal Credit Union (the credit union’s original name) logo—including newsletters, communications/letters, photos, news articles and more.
While members produced numbers credit union-related items from each decade of its existence, the oldest artifacts retained by members turned out to be a Jax Navy Federal membership certificate from 1952 and a membership card from 1959, both of which were submitted by Charlie and Stephen Schumacher on behalf of their late father, Edward S. Schumacher.
Edward Schumacher worked as a military supply officer at Cecil Field, where he was in charge of the supply of everything “from pencils to planes,” as he used to tell his sons, according to the credit union. He also served as a helmsman in World War II, and he even witnessed the iconic raising of the United States flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima, VyStar CU reported.
In June of 1952, just two months after Jax Navy Federal Credit Union was chartered, Schumacher joined the credit union and remained a member until his death in 2010. His account, which was opened with the original 25-cent membership fee, is one of the earliest to be opened at VyStar, the CU said. His sons found the original membership documents while they were sorting through their father’s safe deposit box after he passed away.
Charlie and Stephen Schumacher were selected as winners of the promotion and received a bag full of VyStar gear as a prize.