Duo share Irma Platt Award

For the first time, two insurance professionals receive honors

By Bob Bloss

Double-barreled congratulatory applause highlighted this year’s Florida Association of Insurance Agents (FAIA) 2008 convention near Orlando in June when the prestigious IRMA Award, which annually honors an insurance professional for exceptional support and service, was presented to two extremely worthy qualifiers.

Geraldine (Gerry) Dismuke and Delores B. (Dee) Moore shared the winners’ circle spotlight as the FAIA set a precedent by citing co-recipients for the first time since the Irma Award’s 2001 inception. Tom Cotton, a past FAIA board chairman who established the coveted accolade, made the official presentation to the two distinguished honorees.

The “Irma” is named in honor of Irma Platt, the initial recipient of this award that salutes the important role played by staffers who have supported their agencies’ principals and producers with extraordinary service and assistance over a lengthy tenure. These qualities mirror those of Irma Platt who, after nearly five full decades, continues to provide exemplary sales aid and customer service as vice president, business manager, and administrative assistant at the Hugh Cotton Insurance Agency, Inc., of Orlando.

Gerry Dismuke and Dee Moore clearly emulate the high character and professional demeanor of Irma Platt. Gerry has been in the employ of Schlitt Insurance Services, Inc., and its predecessor, the Ed Schlitt Agency of Vero Beach, Florida, since 1960. By coincidence, Dee also has worked continuously with Bouchard Insurance of Clearwater, Florida—since that same year.

Another coincidence, but this one carefully planned in advance, was the manner in which each Irma recipient learned of her selection. Tom Cotton, the award’s coordinator, visited eacch of the winners’ agencies separately on a matter of legitimate FAIA official business. He outlined some of the association’s initiatives, described its current and future projects, and previewed the forthcoming convention’s seminars and special events. Finally, Cotton talked about the importance of support staffs within insurance agency structures. It was only then that he made reference to the annual Irma Award and immediately announced the surprised winners’ names!

Just a little more than 48 years ago—the date was September 20, 1960—a young high school student and a small Vero Beach insurance agency started a business relationship that neither party dreamed would continue for nearly a half century—and counting. Now, two children and two grandsons later, Gerry Dismuke and what was then the Ed Schlitt Agency still open the door for business every morning.

Gerry now makes certain that computers, instead of carbon paper supplies, are ready for the day’s assignments. And while she still follows her beloved Los Angeles Dodgers (recently departed from their long-time Vero Beach spring training facility), her primary allegiance is to her grandsons’ Little League baseball teams. Times inevitably change, of course, but, according to Robert W. Schlitt Jr., CFP, president of the current Schlitt Insurance Services, Inc., Gerry Dismuke, who was widowed several years ago, still has the same dedication to and enthusiasm for her work and for the agency that she displayed in 1960.

“The only difference now,” says Schlitt, “is the length of her work week. She puts in a 32-and-a-half-hour week now. Still, Gerry’s the first one here in the morning. She started as a policy typist and handled the dictation for all of our agents. Over the years she had multiple jobs here—servicing and supporting every department while serving, in effect, as the agency’s administrative assistant.

“Gerry was responsible for processing all the mail as a typist and secretary for years,” he continues “But a recent change to her workflow results from the fact that a large number of insurance companies often don’t download documentation. Instead they post pages—endorsements, etc.—on their Web sites. Or they e-mail them to us. Gerry’s responsible for getting them electronically distributed throughout the office just as if they were ‘snail mailed.’ She has taken to the Internet like a teenager. She learned our computer systems as soon as they were installed and knows them better than anyone else here.”

Reflecting on her career with the Schlitt agency, Gerry says, “I’m so grateful for the opportunity to come to work here. I still take pride that when I leave the office, most of my work’s been done. There’s not much of a backlog to deal with the next morning.”

In Gerry’s spare time she is active in promoting the agency’s March of Dimes WalkAmerica and the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life efforts and coordinates fund-raising activities for both programs. Retirement is a word that eludes her vocabulary. Says Bob Schlitt, “She often reminds me that her mother worked for the same company until she was over 90. I think Gerry wants to do it longer!”

When Tom Cotton traveled to Florida’s Gulf Coast and announced the other Irma Award co-winner’s name during a staff meeting at the Bouchard Insurance offices in Clearwater, Dee Moore was “. . . overwhelmed. Totally stunned. To say I was surprised would be an understatement,” she recalls. “Later, when I settled down a bit, I felt humbly honored to receive the Irma Award. Especially this year, because Bouchard Insurance is celebrating its 60-year anniversary and was recently named by a regional business journal as one of Tampa Bay’s Best Places to Work.”

In reviewing the highlights of her Bouchard tenure, Dee emphasized how a “family atmosphere” has continuously characterized the agency.

“This has really been more than simply a business career for me,” she says. “It’s been an association with an incredibly wonderful family for nearly 50 years. Roger Bouchard, the agency’s founder, and his wife, Jerry, were definitely my mentors. They did everything for me that they did for their children.

“In those early days, I was often their children’s babysitter,” she recalls. “Their three sons—Rick, Tim, and Ray—eventually joined the agency in executive roles (today Rick is the Bouchard Insurance CEO). As their babysitter, I told them what to do. Now they’re my employers; they tell me what to do! Seriously, the close-knit family atmosphere here has never changed over the years. It makes for a wonderful work environment.”

Hired as a receptionist for a four-person firm in 1960, and filling that part-time babysitter role too, Dee has had a front-row seat and been a key player as the agency has grown into four Florida offices with 220 employees. CEO Rick Bouchard describes Dee’s own career growth over these nearly 50 years.

“It’s funny how things evolve. Dee just wanted to answer phones when she started here . . . never wanted to manage people. But she soon worked her way up to a customer service representative,” he explains, “and then to a commercial lines manager. We held her in such esteem that management invited her to become a shareholder in 1972, and she served on our board of directors for 28 years.

“Today, as vice president for human resources, Dee is responsible for our 220 employees and for recruiting new personnel,” he ccontinues. “Along the way, attending night school, she earned a business administration degree and her CPCU designation. In the early 2000s, when Bouchard was involved in a merger of seven Florida agencies, Dee was clearly a pivotal part of that effort by making all the offices compliant and effective in human resources.”

A native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Dee has lived in Clearwater most of her life. She and her husband, Rhys, still live there.

Tom Cotton, in reviewing the 2008 awarding of the Irma Platt Lifetime Achievement laurels, offered this observation: “It is an appropriate coincidence that this year our two co-recipients of the Irma Award—Gerry Dismuke and Delores Moore—have both served their agencies and their clients for nearly a half century. For it’s this very year that Irma Platt herself celebrates her 50th anniversary with the Hugh Cotton Insurance Agency in Orlando.”

Insurance industry members nationwide are encouraged to nominate worthy Irma Award candidates for future consideration in recognition of their lengthy careers supporting agencies and clients. Candidates need not be employed by Florida agencies. *

Further information and nominating forms can be obtained from FAIA official Tom Cotton at tcotton@hughcotton.com.