HONOLULU, Hawaii–Retired Hawaiian Tel FCU President Buddy Asato has passed away peacefully. He was 85 years old.
Mr. Asato was an icon and pioneer in the Hawaii credit union movement, the credit union noted, dedicating 34 years of his life helping credit union members, first as a National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Examiner for 11 years, Hawaii Credit Union League (HCUL) Assistant General Manager for one year, Hawaii State FCU (HSFCU) President for eight years, and Hawaiian Tel FCU (HTFCU) President for 14 years.
Mr. Asato’s accomplishments include authoring the Hawaii Credit Union Law, which paved the way for state chartered credit unions, starting the first checking account and ATM programs for credit unions with Bank of Hawaii, developing the first open- ended lending system in Hawaii, bringing credit union data processor USERS, Inc to Hawaii, and introducing Payment Systems for Credit Unions (PSCU) to Hawaii. HSFCU became the largest credit union in Hawaii during his tenure, and HTFCU became the largest sponsor based credit union in Hawaii during his time there. He served as President of the Hawaii Rainbow CUES Council, was a PSCU Board Member, volunteered on various HCUL Committees, and was a member on the USERS, Inc. National Advisory Board.
“Buddy was a wonderful family man who dedicated his life to the credit union movement,” said current HTFCU President Norman Okimoto. “He was very humble and was a friend and mentor to me and many other credit union CEOs, staff, and volunteers. He was well respected not only in Hawaii, but nationally as well. He was a visionary who always stated, ‘The only reason credit unions exist is to serve their members.’ He will be missed, but his legacy will live on with the success of HTFCU and the Hawaii credit union movement.”
Asato graduated from Woodbury University in Los Angeles with a BBA in Accounting and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War from 1951-1953. He is survived by his wife Diana, three children, four grandchildren, and two great- grandchildren. Private services were held on January 6, 2017.