At St. Anselm's Commencement Exercises for the Class of 2009 on Saturday, May 16, 2009, Chancellor Matthew K. Leavy, from St. Anselm College, read the following Citation as he presented Ron Rioux with his Honorary Degree:

How fitting it is that today Ronald Joseph Rioux will finally receive a degree from St. Anselm College! This was just one of three colleges where Ron took classes in the early 1960s, while working in a shoe factory to pay his tuition. It took eight years, but this son of devoted working class parents from French Hill in Nashua, New Hampshire became the first in his family to receive a college diploma. Soon afterwards he entered the banking profession and, finding himself in a position to assist people by providing loans. Ron never forgot where he came from or the people who don't have the luxury to think about much more than their most basic need of food, shelter and work.



For hundreds of such people over the years, Ron Rioux has been a real life George Bailey, helping them, as George Says, "work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath." Steering his career away from institutions where the culture was more about profit than people, Ron came in the 1990s to serve as President and CEO of America’s oldest credit union, St. Mary's Bank in Manchester. Under his leadership, St. Mary's doubled its membership and nearly tripled its assets, while adding five new branches. A lover of history, Ron was also instrumental in the founding of America's Credit Union Museum, located on the west side of Manchester in the building where S1. Mary's was founded in 1908.

Retiring from St. Mary's this past year, Ron still devotes himself full time to serving his church and community in a variety of leadership positions, including Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of New Hampshire Catholic Charities and Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Catholic Medical Center. Whether helping with the Bishop's Assistance Fund or in his local parish, Ron accompanies his financial expertise with a humility and joy that has endeared him to all who have had the pleasure of serving by his side. Of his innumerable works of service, he says simply, "It brings me joy." Ron Rioux needs no guardian angel to convince him that by devoting himself to helping others he has indeed had a wonderful life.

In recognition of his professional and personal accomplishments, of his life of generosity and service, I am honored to present for the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, Ronald Joseph Rioux.

Given This Sixteenth Day of May
In the Year of Our Lord, 2009

Mathew K. Leavy, O.S.B., Ph.D.
Chancellor