Greetings from Amazing Arcola! Yes, I was born and raised in Arcola, Illinois and have lived here all of my life.  We bleed purple in Arcola and are very proud of our strong school community traditions, strong school system, and strong sports programs – home of the Purple Riders!  Arcola is a community of strong businesses and citizens who value our town’s traditions and value the importance of having a wonderful place to work, live, and raise their families.

After graduating from Arcola High School in 1981, I attended Millikin University and received my degree in 1985.  I then came back to Arcola and was privileged to be able to work with my father and two of my brothers for more than 25 years in our family insurance business.  With no family interested in continuing the business, we were fortunate to partner with Compass Insurance Partners in 2021.  This allowed us to continue serving our community with an organization that has 11 offices in small communities very similar to Arcola.  We feel very blessed to have found an organization to partner with who shares the same small town values as ours.

I married my first wife, Tracy, at the age of 30 and was happy to find someone who was willing to put up with me!  Tracy and I were parents of two daughters, Erin and Megan, who continue to make me proud every day.  Erin is a physician in residency at Madigan Army Medical Center in Seattle, Washington and Megan is attending graduate school in Portland, Oregon in pursuit of her Doctorate in Psychology.  Sadly, Tracy had an untimely death from breast cancer at the age of 48. I remarried 11 years later to my wife Robyn – another person who was willing to put up with me!  Robyn introduced me to her 4 children – Jenna, Johanna, John, and Judson – along with their spouses and now 9 grandchildren.  Aren’t things supposed to slow down as we get older?

Our family believes community is important and we are actively involved to help with continuing to improve, support, and make it a better place for families and businesses.  We are active in our church, Chamber of Commerce, Crisis Nursery, and the Illini Prairie CEO Program.  We strongly feel the value of living in our small community and how fortunate we have been to do so.  We want to make sure this sense of pride is carried on for generations!

When we have downtime we enjoy traveling to see our kids or spending time with them in any kind of water activity – boating of any kind, jet skis, going on cruises, or just floating on the water and having fun!  These are activities that everyone looks forward to and enjoys!

The insurance business has been a very good industry for me and my family.  Our parents taught us that taking care of others is important and I am thankful I am able to do this in my profession.  We are fortunate to have partnered with Compass Insurance Partners who have similar values and beliefs.  We very much look forward to serving Amazing Arcola and the surrounding areas in the future!