Lending Solutions Consulting, Inc (LSCI) is sad to announce the passing of its founder, A. Rex Johnson at the age of 77. For more than 40 years, Rex brought his unique brand of leadership and passion to the credit union industry, sharing his lending knowledge with thousands of credit unions along the way.
Rex Johnson founded Baxter Credit Union (BCU) in 1981 and under his leadership, grew membership to 72,000 and assets to over $300 million. Johnson was named the Illinois Credit Union Executive of the year in 1986 at BCU. Johnson started Lending Solutions, Inc. (LSI) in 1994 and LSCI in 2000. He authored four best-selling books and lending videos and was elected into the Illinois Credit Union Hall of Fame and CUES Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2017 Rex received CUNA’s prestigious Phil Greer Lifetime Achievement Award.
Rex’s message was simple – “Help people by ‘seeing what no one else sees’” – his mantra from the movie Patch Adams. In December 2018, LSCI hosted a celebratory University of Lending, Rex’s flagship training school, in Las Vegas to commemorate his retirement. The school featured keynote speaker, Hunter Doherty "Patch" Adams, the physician and social activist in which the movie Patch Adams is based.
“There’s no one in the industry who embodied the ‘people helping people’ spirit of credit unions more than Rex,” said Mike Valentine, President & CEO at BCU. “There are so many things Rex taught me, and countless other credit union leaders, that I will never forget. He encouraged us to take what we do seriously, but to have fun and never take ourselves too seriously. In the age of automated loan decisioning, he also reminded us that everyone has a story. Be a great listener, show empathy, do the right thing and members will reward you with their loyalty. I’m extremely humbled and honored to have learned so much from him.”
“My father changed how credit unions lend and interact with members. His tireless efforts for 40 years to promote serving members and filling credit unions with passion has also changed the way they do business,” said Lorrie Wohlfeil, COO at LSCI. “His message of ‘seeing what no one else sees’ will continue to steer the credit union movement to a better place. We could not be more motivated to continue to grow his legacy.” Connie Johnson, Rex’s wife of 55 years, his children, along with the employees of LSCI are committed to building on Rex’s message through this family-owned business in the years ahead.
True to form, Rex kept fighting until the very end. His passion in his later years was to ensure that no one else suffer from PPA/Alzheimer’s, donating his brain to help scientists find a cure for this dreadful disease. For a boy that grew up in the little town of Pink Hill, North Carolina, he traveled the world and touched the lives of countless individuals. He did it the only way he knew how – his way.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund at https://curealz.org.