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Honoring Colin Baxter: A Helping Heart
Dedication of Credit Union 1's Nome Branch
By Mark Burgess, President/CEO
Here in Alaska, helping one another is just what we do. Paired with our strong independence, we know giving and accepting help is also a necessity to live in such a rugged place.
Each summer, we gather at fish camps across the state to harvest salmon and help friends and family do the same. In winter, we help our neighbors clear snow and pull strangers’ cars out of the ditch. In some of our northernmost communities, residents share in the bounty of a successful whale hunt.
Fittingly, one of Credit Union 1’s guiding principles is ‘people helping people.’ We appreciate this spirit and the Alaskan lifestyle because we live it, too.
Colin Baxter, a longtime Credit Union 1 board member, is a true embodiment of this Alaskan ethos.
Colin has served on our credit union's Board of Directors, which is a volunteer position, for more than 30 years. He uses his deep experience in numerous parts of our vast state to help guide CU1 toward sustained growth and exciting new opportunities.
Nome Branch employees join Colin Baxter (right) for a branch dedication in his honor.
In his day job, Colin spent many years as a teacher and school administrator in small towns and villages across Alaska after moving from Montana in 1965. He first visited Nome in 1969, later serving as the principal and superintendent of the Pribilof School District. He also served as superintendent in St. Mary’s and oversaw federal school programs from Eagle to the end of the Aleutian chain, among other posts. A career in education is just one way he has helped his fellow Alaskans; inspiring young people and setting them on a path to personal success.
It was Colin who first passionately advocated for CU1 to merge with North Country Credit Union in Nome approximately 20 years ago.
He didn't do this just because he thought it would be a smart business deal for CU1. Rather, he did it because he cares deeply for the people of the Seward Peninsula and feared North Country may be forced to close without the merger, leaving the people of the region with no access to financial resources.
The eventual merger made CU1 the only state-chartered credit union in Alaska, which is a distinction we hold with pride.
We have been grateful for Colin’s leadership time and again, but perhaps never more so than with Nome. Today, CU1 has nearly 3,000 members in Nome and the surrounding communities, which is ultimately the result of his time, effort and dedication to a place he loves.
These are just a few examples of why, in August 2023, we were thrilled to formally dedicate the CU1 Nome Branch to Colin Baxter during our annual Member Appreciation Event in this community. Colin and his family joined us in Nome for the event, where we unveiled a plaque in his honor that will remain on display in the branch.
In 1952, we were founded as the Anchorage Teachers Credit Union. Today, valuing and supporting education throughout Alaska remains a central part of the CU1 culture.
Colin is known to say, “Time is the most precious thing you can give. Share what you have.”
We have been beyond proud to share our time with Colin these past 30 years and at our recent Nome Branch dedication.
He will humbly deflect the praise, but we know he deserves every bit of it.
