'I love my hometown:' 69th Stocktonian of the Year announced
"I'm speechless," Michael Duffy said as he walked into Yasoo Yani Restaurant in Stockton Friday morning to a crowd gathered to surprise him with the 2022 Stocktonian of the Year award.
Dressed in a gray plaid suit and a red striped bow tie, the former president and CEO of the Financial Center Credit Union became the 69th person to receive the award for service and positive impact on the city.
"He has helped everyone in Stockton that I know of," said Occeletta Briggs, a 35-year veteran of San Joaquin County General's nursing department and the hospital's first Black nursing director. Briggs nominated Duffy for the award.
Duffy grew up off of Kelley Drive in north Stockton in the years before the city's upper half was fully developed, he said. Duffy recalled riding his bike to Lodi and hunting in the farmland as a child.
"One thing I love about Stockton ... we're kind of rough and tumble," he said.
Duffy joined the Financial Center Credit Union in 1993 and was at the helm of the decades-old San Joaquin County institution when it merged with the Valley Strong Credit Union in 2021. He now serves as Valley Strong's Chief Advocacy Officer and as an officer for FCCU2, a Stockton nonprofit created during the merger.
In 2020 amid the pandemic, Duffy's family fund and the Financial Center Credit Union donated $1 million to Stockton Strong, a group aimed at coordinating local organizations' COVID-19 responses.
“Time and time again, when this community needs help, Michael Duffy, his family, and Financial Center Credit Union, leadership and staff answer the call,” then-Mayor Michael Tubbs said.
Duffy has also served as president of the St. Mary's Interfaith Dining Room and as a member of the Stockton Diocese Finance Council, the St. Joseph's Hospital board, and numerous other organizations, according to the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce.
"We're just looking for someone who really had a heart for Stockton," said Timm Quinn, CEO of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce. The Stocktonian of the Year title is awarded each year by the chamber and the Central Valley Association of Realtors.
"I love my hometown," Duffy said. "I [loved] it unbelievably since I was ... a young, young boy."
Record reporter Aaron Leathley covers public safety. She can be reached at aleathley@recordnet.com or on Twitter @LeathleyAaron. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Credit Union executive Duffy is the 69th Stocktonian of the Year
