AFSA President & CEO Bill Himpler sent the below message to members yesterday afternoon remarking on the passing of Ray Biggs, who left an indelible mark on the consumer credit industry.

Members:

I am saddened to share the news that our friend and colleague, Ray Biggs, passed away over the weekend.

Ray’s career spanned just about every facet of the financial services industry. After graduating from Memphis State University, his career in the accounting field would lead to his serving as a senior partner at Deloitte & Touche, working with a broad range of clients in Tennessee and North Carolina.

In 1992 Ray joined Flagstar Companies as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. There, he directed the Spartanburg, S.C., company’s investor relations, strategic planning, budgeting, cash management, SEC relations, and data processing. Ray joined Security Finance Corporation of Spartanburg in August 1995 as President and Chief Operating Officer and that same year joined AFSA’s Board of Directors. During his career at Security Finance, the company experienced significant growth.

In 2001 Ray was elected chairman of AFSA’s Independents Section Advisory Board. He immediately followed that chairmanship with his election as AFSA’s Chairman of the Board, and chaired the 2002 Independents Conference & Expo. Ray was the first Board member to accept two key leadership positions back-to-back.

Ray was also a great advocate for the AFSA Educational Foundation. In 2000 he matched AFSAEF contributions made by members of the Independents. He also actively marketed the MoneySKILL curriculum to schools and teachers in South Carolina. This advocacy no doubt resulted from Ray’s longstanding charitable support of young people. He was personally involved in the Meyer Center for Special Children and brought Security Finance in as a significant donor to the Children’s Miracle Network.

For all of these efforts Ray was honored with AFSA’s Distinguished Service Award in 2004, and in 2008 he was awarded the Outstanding Independent Award.

Ray Biggs’ life was quintessentially American. He grew up in a small Tennessee town with a population of 30 people. He was a captain of his high school football team and married his high school sweetheart. He went to work to support his young family and graduated college with honors in three years. While his life story in many ways is similar to so many in our nation, he was a one-of-a-kind leader for our association and the industries we serve.

Please keep Ray, his wife, Linda, and their family in your thoughts and prayers.