Member Awards: Recognizing Excellence

Jonathan Elliot was a longtime ACA International member and partner at Zeldes, Needle & Cooper P.C. in Bridgeport, Conn. Early in his career, he served on the state’s Task Force for Foster Children and the Connecticut Bar Association’s Juvenile Justice Committee and Committee Regarding the Representation of Children in Family Matters.

He was ACA’s Members Attorney Program (MAP) state compliance chair in Connecticut and served as a practicing attorney for 35 years. Elliot was admitted to practice before various Connecticut and federal courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He was an active MAP participant and contributed to the continuing education for ACA MAP attorneys, often playing the role of the judge when mock trials were conducted in MAP sessions. Elliot was a deep thinker who was generous with his knowledge and experience.

James K. Erickson was a distinguished recipient of several ACA awards over the years and served as ACA president in 1980/81. Erickson was active in ACA and the Washington Collectors Association (WCA) for years before he was recruited to run for ACA treasurer in 1977. In 1963, his efforts with WCA helped it win an activity award, and in 1967, Erickson was recognized with ACA’s Paul Bunyan award.

While many ACA presidents seek to “go back to business” once their term in office is over, Erickson remained so active in association affairs that he was named Member of the Year in 1982 and 1987. He was the only ACA member to receive this honor three times.

Erickson provides the best example of a member’s commitment to continuous service to the accounts receivable management industry and ACA.

ACA’s 1959/60 President Fred Kirschner was born in Germany and escaped from the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1939. After serving in the U.S. military, he became part owner of a collection business in Alton, Illinois. Kirschner was known for his generosity—a man who was always willing to share his time and talents with fellow ACA members. He opened his office to anyone who wanted to observe how he managed his staff, calculated the status of his business and clients, determined the success of his salespeople or any other facet of his operation.

Kirschner was a renowned ACA instructor, particularly for seminars related to collection business management, and over the course of his long tenure was the first to have taught 200 ACA classes. Kirschner, who died in 2006, was one of ACA’s most requested instructors, loved by students and fellow instructors alike.

If you had to name iconic figures in the accounts receivable management (ARM) industry, Russell would most certainly be at the top of the list. By the time she became ACA’s 52nd president in 1991, Russell had been serving the association for close to 30 years, most notably by testifying before Congress and appearing on multiple TV interview shows on behalf of ACA and the ARM industry.

Russell was the first woman to be elected president of ACA. She was also the first association member from Wyoming to serve as president and the first ACA president to appear on CNN in her first week of office.

Russell was raised in the collection business. The debt collection agency she ran— CollectionCenter Inc., based in Rawlins, Wyoming—was started by her father, Clyde Cox, in 1919.

Janis St. Martin was the vice president of Collectors Insurance Agency (CIA), a wholly owned subsidiary of ACA International. She managed CIA’s vendor relationships and served as program manager. She reviewed all issues that might impact the program and assisted individual members with concerns. She also made sure CIA’s role was in line with goals shared by other ACA departments. Her spirit of protecting the accounts receivable management industry from those who would seek to profit by pursuing meritless claims, which negatively impacts industry participants, led to having an award named after her.

Harry Strausser Jr. was president and CEO of Action Management Inc., a firm he started in 1974. Before that, he was employed at Central Pennsylvania Savings, Shamokin, and the Beneficial Finance Corp. in Virginia, Ohio and Michigan.

Strausser was extremely active in ACA. He served on the Board of Directors and multiple committees. He earned ACA’s Scholar and Fellow degrees as well as the International Fellowship of Credit and Collection Executives and Master Collection Executive designations. He was a familiar face at ACA’s convention and events and was a true ambassador of ACA’s political action committee, ACPAC. He was a recognized authority in the credit and collection industry, both nationally and internationally.

Charles F. Lindemann was a highly regarded ACA Certified Instructor, who also served as 1967/68 ACA president. Lindemann lived by the standards against which today’s instructors are measured, including teaching at least four seminars per year, providing leadership in the faculty by working with new instructors, contributing to the development of new programs, and, of course, getting rave reviews from students. 

He owned Lindy’s Collection Service in New Ulm, Minnesota. An early proponent of ACA’s Education Program, Lindemann served on ACA’s Education Council during the development of the association’s first seminars. In his first seven years as an ACA instructor, he taught an impressive 50 seminars. Lindemann was honored with ACA’s Member of the Year Award in both 1962 and 1963. 

Robert Loomer, a longtime ACA instructor who set the standard for appearance and preparation for ACA seminars, ran a successful agency in Boston with his wife, Linda. Loomer was named ACA’s Instructor of the Year in 1979. He coached and trained many new instructors and was an active member of the New England Collectors Association. Loomer knew that ACA instructors can have a lifelong impact on their students.

Before working at ACA, Irvin “Dempsey” Mortenson his wife Jerene, worked in Tanganyika, Africa, teaching at a school for girls before moving on to Tanzania, where they were instrumental in the founding and building of the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center. Upon the family’s return to the U.S. after working in Africa for 14 years, Mortenson worked at the Minnesota State Capitol, where he met John W. Johnson, ACA’s former CEO, during Johnson’s state legislative career. Johnson brought Mortenson to ACA. Mortenson lived by his motto, “Be kind and always leave everything just a little bit better than the way you found it.”

Warren Siem was an active ACA member and eager participant in ACA’s Leadership Symposium, which has evolved over the years to Level Up and remains an important component of ACA’s spring conference to connect emerging leaders and provide education.

He was known for his willingness to share and his challenge to other members to do the same during the Best Ideas session, which is also a staple of ACA’s Level Up and Committee of 100 events.

Kurt Swersky owned Adjustment Service in Knoxville, Tennessee, later known as Revenue Recovery Corporation, which merged with Wakefield & Associates in 2016.

Swersky is remembered for his participation, discussion, attitude and knowledge contributions to ACA’s Leadership Symposium. He participated in all activities with a sense of enthusiasm and adventure.