Joe Garay ’78 was appointed president/CEO of the Oceanside, New York-based credit union 29 years ago, but the Garay family has been involved with the credit union since it began in 1969, when his father founded the organization. Throughout Garay’s almost three decades of leadership, the credit union expanded their field of membership to include the Diocese of Rockville Centre, essentially allowing membership to all Catholics living in Nassau or Suffolk counties and realizing membership growth of 425 percent. Ocean Financial’s assets have grown more than 14 times what it was in 1991, bringing their current assets to over $310 million.
On the state level, Garay was a longtime director on the New York Credit Union Association’s board, where he held the positions of vice chairman and secretary/treasurer. In 2011, he was unanimously elected honorary director by the board. Garay was also active on the Long Island Chapter Council and the OwnersChoice Funding board of directors.
Throughout his career, Garay said he’s most enjoyed helping others through the local credit union’s “great rates and customer service. Being able to make life-changing decisions for a lot of families who had nowhere else to go was by far the most satisfying [part of the job],” he said. “I’m not saying they all worked out perfectly, but a lot of them helped, for example, someone with bad credit who needs a car to go to work. We may be his or her last resort to find help.”
Along the same vein, he took pride in running a non-profit, rather than a big bank. He explained that unlike banks like Citi or Bank of America, credit union workers do not individually profit from its business and offer more personalized service. “I’ve been very fortunate to work in the credit union movement,” Garay said. “Deceptive advertising or tricking people would never be tolerated here. Everyone who comes in here gets a fair shake.”
