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The IrMa Award

Florida CSR Marianne Vernon wins honor

By Phil Zinkewicz

In mid-May of this year, Marianne Vernon and her coworkers were called into a conference room at J. Rolfe Davis Insurance in Maitland, Florida. The buzz around the office was that someone at the agency had won the Irma Platt Lifetime Achievement Award, presented annually by the Florida Association of Insurance Agents (FAIA). As she looked around the room at the other employees, Vernon began to speculate about who the winner might be. There was certainly no dearth of candidates among those present; all are professionals who have served their clients well over the years. Then Marianne received the joyful news: It was she who was the 2006 recipient of the coveted award.

“I was speechless,” says Marianne. “I still can’t get over it. I still don’t know if I deserve it,” she says with sincere humility.

Well, her coworkers are certain she deserves it. Jean Fouraker, personal lines manager and vice president of the agency, says that submitting Marianne’s name as a candidate for the award (without her knowledge, of course) was a “grassroots” effort among all the employees at J. Rolfe Davis. “She is the epitome of the CSR,” says Jean. “She loves people and loves to take care of their needs when questions arise about their policies and coverages. Moreover, her clients are devoted to her because they know she is there to help and she treats them so well. When she first came to us 15 years ago, she brought with her a manual typewriter and I thought to myself, ‘uh-oh.’ But in a very short time, she learned the computer and mastered our automation system. She sets a tone that raises the bar for all of us here at the office.”

Marianne is the sixth recipient of the Irma Award, which is named for its first recipient, Irma Platt. The FAIA has given this award every year since 2001 to an agency support staffer who exemplifies professionalism, displays wholehearted dedication to clients and coworkers, and has served his or her agency with distinction for many years. In addition to Marianne and Irma Platt, other winners are Cindy Molnar (2002), Marion Heaberlin (2003), Otmara Linares (2004) and Barbara Dianna Gray (2005).

Marianne has dedicated her entire career of more than 50 years to the insurance business in the Orlando area. Having begun with a small agency at the age of 16, Marianne then attended Orlando Junior College for two years, married and had three children. Before the children started school, she worked part time for three insurance agencies at the same time, processing renewals. In 1966, after the children had entered school, Marianne started working full time for the Le Roy Dickson Agency, where she remained from 1966 through 1991. During that time, she had her fourth child. In 1991, J. Rolfe Davis Insurance purchased the Dickson Agency and Marianne came aboard as a bonus to the purchasing agency.

Says Marianne: “I grew up in Lockhart and was graduated from Edgewater High School. When I was 16, I was awarded a scholarship to Orlando Junior College. But I knew that the scholarship wasn’t going to pay for everything—books and other reading materials—so I decided I had to work. I didn’t have a car, so my father had to drive me to various job interviews. My first interview was with a trucking firm. The owner was big and burly, and I was frightened of him. The second interview was for an attorney’s office. But the hours would have interfered with my school time. The third interview was with the Mark Hanna Insurance Agency. I got the job, and that’s how I became involved in insurance.”

Hanna hired Marianne to work part time after her morning classes. She worked there the two years she attended OJC, working full time in the summers. “He taught me all the basic principles that I know about the casualty insurance business,” Marianne says. “I learned to rate, prepare and process policies. I also learned how to read policies and interpret them. Mr. Hanna and his wife, who ran the office, were marvelous teachers and I benefited from that. Mrs. Hanna was an excellent office manager and helped me hone my skills in letter writing, communicating with clients and problem solving.”

After Marianne married, she continued to work full time for the Hanna agency until her first child was born. After maternity leave, she returned to work for Hanna and Jack Closson, who had joined forces to form the Hanna-Closson Agency. “I continued to work part time for them for almost four years, primarily processing renewals and billings,” says Marianne. “Their agency grew to the point where they needed another full-time employee, but I was determined to continue to work part time while my children were so young.”

Marianne worked part time for two different agencies, working two half-days at one and two half-days at the other, processing renewals and doing the billing. “Eventually, I decided I wanted to go back to work full time, and worked with an agency in south Orlando for about a year and a half,” says Marianne. “When my husband was transferred from his job on one of the missile tracking ships to Chicago to teach, I left the agency because I wanted to be free to be at home when he was able to fly home. In December 1965, my husband retired from his military contract work and decided to go back to school to secure his vocational teaching certificate. I applied for a full-time position with Le Roy G. Dickson in February of 1966 and remained in his employ until he sold his agency to J. Rolfe Davis in 1991. I’ve been here ever since.”

Continues Marianne: “I am forever grateful that they gave me the opportunity to learn the computer system. I had lots of insurance experience, but I had never had my hands on a computer. It is not often that a ‘new hire’ is given the chance to prove that he or she can master the job, especially one of my mature years.”

Marianne is an avid reader, sews, gardens and has an intense interest in history, especially the Civil War. She enjoys a strong relationship with her husband, Bill, their four children and their granddaughter.

She received the Irma Award in June at the FAIA annual convention. The trophy she took home was impressive. In fact, one of her sons said when he saw it: “Mom, that’s bigger than my bowling trophies!”

We bet it is. *

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