Rich & Cartmill celebrates 90th anniversary [Tulsa World, Okla.]

Feb. 18-- The insurance industry and Tulsa business landscape have changed considerably over the past 90 years.

One thing that hasn't changed, however, is the name and commitment of Rich & Cartmill Inc., one of the city's oldest independent insurance agencies.

About 85 agents and their spouses are gathering Saturday for a banquet at the Mayo Hotel to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the independent insurance company. It was founded in 1922 when two Tulsa entrepreneurs saw that thriving new businesses in Tulsa needed protection for the buildings they owned and their contents.

Both Irwin D. Rich and John R. Cartmill came to Tulsa from Mattoon, Ill., in 1921, and by the following year had opened their general insurance business.

"We still get inquiries today from people who call us wanting to speak to either of them, and we have to explain that they're quite literally no longer with us," said Vaughn Graham, president of Rich & Cartmill. "They were two young entrepreneurs, two young entrepreneurs that really were involved in a fledgling industry."

Today, the agency represents "many of the best and largest insurance carriers in the United States, and literally worldwide," Graham said.

Rich & Cartmill is not owned by an insurance company, nor does it direct clients to a particular insurance company, he said. Instead, the firm determines customers' needs and designs insurance programs that best match their situations.

The company provides business and personal insurance coverage, including home, life and health, and employee benefits and bonds.

Rich died at age 68 of an apparent heart attack at his home in 1959. Cartmill died at age 88 in 1980.

Yellowed newspaper clippings depict two men who were involved in the community through sundry activities and memberships.

During their lifetimes, both traveled overseas and shared their observations. In a speech before the Cosmopolitan Club at the Hotel Tulsa in the 1950s, Cartmill spoke about the improved economic conditions he and his wife witnessed during a tour of Europe, during which they were presented to the pope at the Vatican.

"The Italians are doing all right, thanks to the tourists and the Marshall Plan," Cartmill was quoted as saying. "The people are having a hard time, not because goods aren't available but because they are high priced and their income isn't sufficient to purchase them."

Cartmill noted how signs of communism were visible in most countries of Europe.

"There was a dock strike in Nice while we were there, and there were signs of the sickle painted on walls and buildings," he said, referring to the city in France.

Graham said that over the years, advances in communications have fundamentally changed the ways that Rich & Cartmill does business. Early communications were typed or handwritten and sent by mail -- certainly not by fax or email, nor websites or social media.

"I know that some of our older producers have told stories of how they thought the fax machine was just an expensive passing fad," Graham said.

Today, Rich & Cartmill has the luxury of doing business the way customers want to, communicating instantaneously through smartphones or iPads, landline phone, email or face-to-face meetings.

The firm has been fortunate to remain privately owned through a succession of stockholders, Graham said.

Ed Bentley, a former president of Rich & Cartmill, will be among those attending this weekend's gathering downtown.

Others expected at Saturday's banquet include Richard Teubner, a former president and shareholder of the firm, as well as Ron McCullough, a former shareholder.

Rich & Cartmill has grown over time and today includes about 135 shareholders, agents and staff spread across four states, with offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Owasso, Springfield, Mo., Olathe, Kan., and Greeley Colo.

"We think of ourselves as a family," Graham said, noting that the agency has seen generations of fathers, sons, brothers, uncles and aunts who have served as shareholders and insurance agents.

In remembrance of one of its former shareholders and officers, Mark Mandeville, who died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, the firm partners with other companies to support ALS research. The effort has raised more than $30,000 over the last four years, Graham said.

Mark's brother, Pat Mandeville, a shareholder, and his father, Jack Mandeville, a former shareholder, also are expected to attend the banquet.

Rich & Cartmill Inc. timeline

1922: Irwin D. Rich and John R. Cartmill begin providing property insurance for thriving new businesses in Tulsa.

1950: The Blair-Bentley and H. Robert Wood insurance companies merge with Rich & Cartmill.

1960/61: Rich & Cartmill moves from the Citizens Bank building at Fourth Street and Boulder Avenue to 9 E. Fourth St. This accommodates the firm's expanding workforce, which includes five partners, two associates and six office employees.

1965: Firm establishes an office at 3365 E. Skelly Drive.

1969: The location wins the July city beautification award from the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce. The award recognized the landscaping and beautification of the office building over the previous three years.

1988: Rich & Cartmill acquires the insurance business of Schiefen and West Ltd., which was established in 1958 by Iowa native Robert L. Schiefen.

1993: Firm moves to its current location at 2738 E. 51st St.

1995: Expansion to Oklahoma City

1999: Expansion to Springfield, Mo.

2001: Expansion to Owasso

2005: Expansion to Greeley, Colo.

2008: Expansion to Olathe, Kan.

Laurie Winslow 918-581-8466

[email protected]

___

(c)2012 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.)

Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at www.tulsaworld.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services