As the credit manager for Carson Pirie Scott more than 40 years ago, Fred “Bud” Kosik implemented the store’s first credit card, allowing thousands of customers to charge their purchases and dramatically boosting sales within a year.
“It was a monumental task, but Fred was the right person for the job,” said close friend Jim McKeever, a former accounts-payable manager for Carson’s, in the early 1960s. “It took a lot of organization to get that system up and running, and he did it all without the help of computers.”
Years later, after switching from retail to banking, the longtime Westchester resident helped hundreds of members in his own community secure loans for homes, cars and college tuition.
Mr. Kosik, 75, a Korean War veteran and retired vice president of First Federal Savings and Loan in Westchester, died of cancer Thursday, June 22, in his home.
Born in Chicago, Mr. Kosik was raised in Berwyn and graduated from Morton High School. It was there he met his wife of 54 years, Rosemarie.
“He gave me his class ring when I was just 15,” she recalled.
In the early 1950s, Mr. Kosik graduated from Morton Community College, before serving as a sergeant in the Army in Japan during the Korean War. Among his duties, family members said, he managed the officers club, which began a lifelong passion for photography.
“He took hundreds of photos, both on and off the military base,” said his wife. “Later in his life he took his camera wherever he went and often made extra prints for people in the photos.”
After his military discharge, Mr. Kosik returned to Berwyn, where he and his wife began raising a family. During that time he held a series of jobs, while receiving a bachelor’s degree in accounting from DePaul University.
In 1956, Mr. Kosik moved with his family to Westchester, and soon after became the credit manager at Carson’s State Street store. He was later promoted to chief financial officer of the food service division, overseeing for three years the operation of dozens restaurants and lounges owned by the company.
“Fred was never afraid of hard work and put in long hours for the company, but his family always came first,” said McKeever. “What’s kept us close all these years is that he was a wonderful friend with a great sense of humor, who liked playing cards.”
More recently, Mr. Kosik served as the vice president of the loan department at First Federal Savings and Loan, before retiring in 1995.
In his retirement, Mr. Kosik traveled with his wife to Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand and China. The couple had planned in coming months to visit Japan, before his diagnosis of cancer in April.
“He had a wanderlust and loved learning about different cultures,” said his wife.
A charter member of Divine Providence Catholic Church in Westchester, Mr. Kosik was a eucharistic minister and member of the Parish Council. He was also a past officer of the Holy Name Society.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, John and Bill; two daughters, Christine Grano and Connie Krupka; a sister, Ethel Briza; and 10 grandchildren.
Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Thursday in Divine Providence Catholic Church, 2500 Mayfair Ave., Westchester.
