Two longtime leaders at United Federal Credit Union have announced their decision to retire in the coming months.

President/CEO Gary Easterling plans to retire in late 2015, while Chairman J.B. Hoyt will retire from the credit union’s board of directors at the end of June.

Easterling joined UFCU as president/CEO in 2007 and Hoyt has served on the volunteer board of directors longer than any current member — 28 years. He is in his sixth year as board chairman.

Easterling, of Benton Township, said their decision to depart is not something that happened overnight. Easterling shared his retirement plans with the board almost a year ago and said the credit union is prepared and ready to transition into new leadership.

“Succession planning is something we take very seriously. This has been very orchestrated and planned,” he said.

“The target is the end of the year but I will be here until the board has selected a new CEO and I will stay on and overlap as long as needed to provide a smooth transition.”

While Easterling’s departure date is flexible, Hoyt said he would step down June 30.

“It looks like a pretty dramatic change, but this is part of an effort that Gary and I have worked on,” Hoyt said. “We have a strong core of board members that are very capable of stepping into leadership roles and managing the board.”

Easterling, a native of Fairborn, Ohio, came to UFCU from his former position as president/CEO of a credit union in Cleveland, Ohio. After 32 years in the business, he said age and the desire to pursue new things and spend more time with his family contributed to his decision to retire. He is set to begin a three-year term on the National Association of Federal Credit Union’s Board of Directors in June, which should keep him in touch with UFCU.

“My wife has often said that I will never really retire and she’s right. I will always have my hand in something,” he said.

Hoyt, of Stevensville, joined the board of directors in 1987 thinking he’d just serve for a few years, “but the challenges of the financial services industry and UFCU held my interest and gave me new ways to deepen my contributions, year after year.”

Since Hoyt joined, UFCU’s assets have grown from $90 million to more than $1.8 billion. Similarly, UFCU has grown from four branches at that time to nearly 30 branches in six states today.

Both said they are proud of the credit union’s focus on putting members first — a key to its growth over the years.

“As I tell them all the time, if you take care of the member one member at a time, the numbers will take care of themselves and the recognition will take care of itself,” Easterling said. “You can’t go wrong doing the right thing and I’m a just so proud of the passion our employees have.”

Founded in 1949, UFCU consists of more than 130,000 member/owners worldwide. It is based in St. Joseph, but has several branches in Michiana.