I started my career in life insurance on a part-time basis while still in college, in 1959. There were seven children in our family and Tommy, one of my younger brothers, said he needed some life insurance. He was a high school student in Hamburg, AR, but always held part-time jobs. He said he could afford a premium of $5.00 per month. We applied for a whole life policy and the death benefit was around $4,500. Tommy graduated from high school and was attending college at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
On March 1st, 1963, he came home for the weekend. My dad had a service station and Tommy agreed to "close up" for the night to allow my Mom and Dad to attend a high school play that another brother of mine, Roy, was in. A robbery occurred at the service station that night and my brother, Tommy, was murdered during the hold-up. My first life insurance death claim was my little brother. With seven kids, that small policy was very important to Mom and Dad as it paid for his funeral, with a little money left over. Over my career of 50+ years, we have worked with many clients who had the foresight to purchase life insurance to protect their families, their businesses and their estates. Last October, my brother Roy passed away.
Settling death claims on brothers and family members is a very hard thing to do; however, had their families not had life insurance benefits, this would have made the grief even more difficult.