Induction Ceremony 2025 Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame

My induction into the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame was an unexpected but greatly appreciated honor. My family and friends suited up and showed up in numbers that exceeded my expectations. To have my children and grandchildren there made it an amazing experience. 

The hardest part for me was the speech. Not giving the speech but deciding on what to say. Each inductee is given five minutes which, after the obligatory thank yous, leaves very little time for a serious message. I had been on the IIHOF board for many years and attended over 20 events, so I have heard at least 80 inductee speeches. Some were awkward, some were polished, some were boring. The ones I remember best were funny, so I went with humor with a message. 

I was introduced by Abby-Jaye Larson a fellow CPCU with a personality that shines in the dark. She did a great job and set the stage for my speech. I had some notes printed out but I fumbled them on stage and winged it to the end.  Here is a link to a video of the event.

Besides the the people that attended I heard from friends from across the country. I heard how I had helped them, encouraged them to be their best, and a few that said I gave them a swift kick that they needed at the time. Much of what I heard were the nice platitudes that people say about the deceased at a funeral. I will alway be grateful for the experience.

The recognition was a wakeup call for me, as a senior leader in the local insurance community, to be sure to step up and nominate people that I know that should be in the IIHOF too. I am activity working on four at this time. 

2025 IIHOF Speech

My experience at the 2025 IIHOF Induction Ceremony was amazing. It was an unexpected honor that I will always treasure. Below is my short speech, we are only given five minutes. I knew from my time on the board and attending over 15 ceremonies that the best speeches were entertaining and especilly good when people would laugh. So, I tried to inject some humor into it and mostly succeeded. Below is the speech followed by the thank you I sent to the IIHOF Board of Directors. 

My Speech:

Thank you, Abby-Jaye, that was really, nice of you to do that and I greatly appreciate our long friendship.

I'd like to thank the Hall of Fame Board of Directors for the excellent job they did voting this year. And I appreciate the many hours of work that the board members provide to make this event possible.

Congratulations to the other 2025 inductees.

And many thanks to all of you for showing up tonight and making this a special night for me and I'm sure for the other inductees and their families.

I would take more than five minutes to thank the people that helped me in my career, from Jim Ketring who brought me to Des Moines in 1979 to my friend the late Ted Lussem.