Joseph L. Hansknecht, Southfield

Banker, rights activist put family first

Candice Williams / The Detroit News

Of Joseph L. Hansknecht's accomplishments, including being a presidential appointee and having a career dedicated to consumer issues and civil rights, family was the most important.

"My mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1983, and if you look at my dad's career and the activities, he took an early retirement (to care for her)," said his son, John Hansknecht. "It shows a real attachment to the important. He spent many years caring for her."

Joseph Hansknecht died Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009. He was 86.

Born on June 19, 1923, Mr. Hansknecht grew up Grand Rapids. After graduating from high school at 16, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in Italy during World War II.

He attended Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, where he met Mary Elizabeth Beckwith. The couple married before their senior year; they had nine children. After graduation, they moved to Washington, D.C., for a year while Mr. Hansknecht earned a master's degree in Catholic social theory from Catholic University of America.

Credit unions and cooperatives were a passion for Mr. Hansknecht, his family said.

As an undergraduate, he served as a founding member of Aquinas College Credit Union. He helped push legislation creating the National Consumer Cooperative Bank, created by Congress in 1978. In 1979, he was nominated by President Jimmy Carter as a member of the bank's founding board.

While living in Detroit, Mr. Hansknecht worked on civil rights projects during the 1960s, including helping to organize the Detroit Urban Alliance following the 1967 riots, his family said.

"He was a great leader, and he talked often about trying to find common ground and common interest," said his daughter Mary Massaron Ross.

"He taught us that you want your message to be conveyed in a way that people who don't initially agree with you will nevertheless understand."

He was preceded in death by a son, Stephen, and his wife, Mary Elizabeth.

Survivors include sons Mark, Eric and David; daughters Nora, Karen and Lisa; 29 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; two brothers, Richard and Paul; and sisters, Margaret, Mary Lou and Susan.