Bob and Debbie Conroy - Enjoying the Journey Together!

Ted Lussem died last year after a long life dedicated to the insurance industry and his community. Ted was a mentor to many successful insurance professionals. He hosted study groups for all programs offered by The Institutes and that created a significant talent pool in Des Moines. He is responsible for much of the economic success we enjoy in Des Moines today.  There will never be another Ted.  Here is a link to Ted’s bio on the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame website (a group that he championed for 21 years.)   https://iihof.org/recipients/theodore-d-lussem-2000/ I am pleased that a suitable home for the books and other memorabilia that Ted Lussem collected has been found thanks to Bruce Kelley. The Lussem collection along  with several boxes of Preferred Risk/GuideOne artifacts from my collection were  donated to the  Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Library at  St. John's University--Manhattan Campus Below is a photo of the archives. The 12 crates...

Debbie and I went to St Joseph, MO yesterday to watch Allison play indoor softball at Missouri Western State University. The facility is used by the Kansas City Chiefs for their summer camp. She played well with great plays at first and a booming bat. On the way home, about 20 miles from Des Moines, we played tag with a deer on I-35. The deer is now "it" but it just lies on the road and refuses to play anymore. We are grateful that the airbags did not deploy and that the car stayed on the road.

 

  Fire marks are metal plaques that were attached to buildings to confirm that the building was insured against fire. The concept originated in London in the early 17th century, following the Great Fire of London in 1666. The idea spread to America in the 18th century, with the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1752, using fire marks that often depicted a fire hose, fire bucket, or the company’s emblem. Fire marks served to indicate that a property was insured, and that the insurance company had a vested interest in protecting it. The use of fire marks declined in the 19th century as municipal fire services became more common making them less necessary.  Today, fire marks are valued as historical artifacts, representing the early days of fire protection and insurance.  There are many fire mark reproductions on display at the Iowa FAIR Plan Association office in West Des Moines, Iowa. Theses fire...

 A friend bought a Chevy SSR. The Chevrolet SSR (S uper S port R oadster) is a retro-styled retractable hardtop convertible pickup truck manufactured by Chevrolet between 2003 and 2006. He brought it home and all hell broke loose from his family. Two days later he was practically begging me to buy it from him. So I did. My friend bought it back about two years later after he moved to Florida. A car like this belongs in a climate like Florida, and I was happy to see it go. I am not into flashy items and this screamed flashy. Was it fun? Yes, a few times when Debbie and I drove to the Dairy Queen.

 A pleasant time was had by all.

It has been almost two years since I got very sick and was close to death. My immune system thought my colon was a foreign invader and mercilessly attacked it. It was a severe case of ulcerative colitis and it hit me quickly and completely. I had a colectomy in September of 2017. I experienced postoperative pancreatitis and had numerous collections of fluids in my abdomen causing inflammation in many organs. I was in a lot of pain, extreme pain, and lost almost 80 pounds, about 43% of my normal weight. After three months in a Des Moines hospital, I was transferred to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. What an incredible place! In a matter of weeks, a team of skilled medical professionals drained the fluids and set me on the path to recovery. It took about a year to recover my strength and to gain about half of my weight back. Today I have the constant reminder of the ordeal in the form of an ostomy pouch that collects the output from my small intestine. Yes, this has been a big ...