A Fond Farewell

​As the association prepares for Karla Clark’s retirement, we take a minute to reflect on her 31 years of dedicated service. 

by Shawn Marie Brummer, Communications Specialist

Friday, November 29, will mark a very sad – but celebrated day at the Dakota Credit Union Association. This will be Karla Clark’s final day as CFO, as she moves into retirement after 31 years of dedicated service to Dakotas’ credit unions. 

Karla’s success story truly begins with her nuclear family. She credits her parents’ example, taking pride in their family and their careers, being honest, hardworking, and keeping company with like-minded people, to setting her on the path to long and successful relationships, both in her professional and personal life. To this day, her close-knit extended family continues to be her foundation.

Karla began her credit union career after graduating from NDSU, when her job search first brought her to Fargo VA FCU. She readily admits that at the time, she knew very little about credit unions. However, she quickly absorbed the credit union difference and realized she could build a career.

As a staff member at Fargo VA, she was familiar with the North Dakota Credit Union League, especially when they moved to a new core processor, ProData, that was owned by the league. She and Dan Clark were dating at the time, and once they became engaged, they knew they would be moving to Bismarck. That’s when Galen DeBey, then a league VP, offered her a position with ProData. Less than a year later, she moved into the league CFO position. The rest, as they say, is history.

Karla says that during her 31 years, there have been so many changes that it never felt like “the same old job.” In fact, she has worked under five different name changes: ND CU League; Mid-America Credit Union League; Mid-America Credit Union Association; Credit Union Association of the Dakotas, and finally, Dakota Credit Union Association (DakCU).

While she is proud of the positive impact the association has had on the Dakota credit union industry, there are several milestones that stand out as being monumental, first and foremost, the consolidation of the North and South Dakota Leagues. “There wasn’t a template to follow, we were forging our own path, and the process was long and full of ups and downs,” she shared. “Many great, long-time credit union individuals were involved, and they had to set aside their own ‘state’ hats and have a vision for what the future could be as one entity. For me, the work of ending some entities, creating new ones, and building the financial framework for all those organizations from the ground up is something that I am most proud of.” 

She continues, “A close second to the merger has been the work with our Healthcare Trust. This was something entirely new, which again meant building the financial structure from the ground up. It has involved a lot of learning, but something that is providing a valuable benefit for those participating credit unions.”

Karla also shared that the credit union environment, based on the principles of “people helping people,” has made it easy for her to dedicate her life’s work to supporting the work we do as an industry. “Generally speaking, if you are truly a credit union advocate, you already have the principles of being a good and decent human being, working for a fair and helpful cause. It may sound cliché, but the people make the work worthwhile. The credit union industry has so many good people and I have been blessed to learn from some of the best – Mr. Paulson, Galen DeBey, Robbie Thompson, Jeff Olson, and so many more that I can’t even begin to list! I have always had support; I had people in my corner – family, friends, co-workers – and with that, you can accomplish a lot!”

As for their future plans, Karla and her husband, Dan, are looking forward to new adventures, which includes a yellow lab puppy that will join them in December. Their son, Josh, and his fiancé, Mariah, will graduate in May and start their careers as physical therapists; the wedding will take place in October 2025. Most of all, they are simply looking forward to a more flexible schedule so they can spend more time with those they cherish and do some traveling to places they haven’t been before. Their first trip is already planned to Ireland in the summer of 2025.

“I have confidence that our days will be as full as we want them to be,” Karla concluded.
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Join us for Karla Clark’s open house
Please join us for open house honoring Karla Clark. We will enjoy conversation and refreshments from 2 – 4 p.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, November 20, at the Bismarck office located at 2005 N. Kavaney Drive. You will find us in the conference room on the second floor.