In Memoriam: Delta Community CU Board Chair Jim Diffley

James (Jim) J. Diffley, a 62-year volunteer for the $8.6 billion Delta Community Credit Union, has died, according to an announcement from the Atlanta-based credit union Wednesday.

While working for Delta Airlines in 1962, Diffley joined the Credit Committee of the credit union, known then as Delta Employees Credit Union. In 1983, he was appointed to the Board of Directors, for which he served as chairman for 38 years, beginning in 1986.

He passed away on Sept. 22, 2024 at the age of 90 while surrounded by family in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., according to Delta Community.

“Our members and employees are indebted to Jim as his contributions to Delta Community’s success are countless and lasting,” Delta Community CEO Hank Halter stated. “Jim believed deeply in the not-for-profit, people-helping-people philosophy of credit unions and worked to sustain the viability, growth and integrity of Delta Community as well as other credit unions to ensure his peers, neighbors and the broader community around him had access to trustworthy, fairly priced financial services. Jim will be greatly missed each day, but his character will inspire those who knew him for decades to come.”

In addition to his decades of service to Delta Community, Diffley was actively engaged over the years with the Georgia Credit Union Affiliates (GCUA), NCUA and World Council of Credit Unions. He attended the America’s Credit Unions Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C. annually, including the 2024 event this past March, and participated in Hike the Hill visits. What’s more, he was an early supporter of a 20-year cultural exchange program between credit unions in the U.S. and Poland that GCUA launched in the 1990s, and later received the Moses C. Davis Lifetime Achievement Award from GCUA in 2017.

An Atlanta native, Diffley earned a B.S. in industrial management from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1956 and subsequently an MBA from Georgia State University. He served in the U.S. Air Force between 1956 and 1959, attaining the rank of captain. After he was honorably discharged, Diffley went on to work in various positions within the Technical Operations Center at Delta Air Lines for 40 years.

Friends and colleagues are invited to a memorial service being held by Diffley’s family at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, at Tom M. Wages Funeral Service in Snellville, Ga. A visitation will precede the service.

According to Delta Community, its Board will elect a new chairperson in the coming months to replace Diffley in accordance with its bylaws, and in the meantime, Vice Chairwoman Linda O’Shea will assume the additional responsibilities of chairperson.