by Carrie Moritz, Gazette
On Wednesday, a retirement party was held for Mark Garry of Peoples Insurance in Garretson, and another one will be held next week in Jasper. Garry will be wrapping up 41 years in the insurance business at the end of this month.
Mark Garry hadn't planned on getting into insurance.
When he graduated from Sioux Falls College, he fully intended on becoming a teacher and a coach. With a degree in Psychology and Secondary Education, his new career began at Chester High School, 78 miles one way. Despite a lack of a classroom and a fully-packed schedule- he taught six periods of World History, Civics, Geography, and PE, grabbing a room wherever one was available, along with coaching three sports- he enjoyed it immensely.
It was the salary that chased him out. His first-year contract was for $9,000, which is equivalent to approximately $43,780 today.
"If the salary had been there, I'd still be teaching," he said. In 1981, Garry and his wife, Shirley, were expecting their second child. Shirley was also a teacher and a coach in Garretson, and they realized that financially and schedule-wise, there was no way they could make it work.
Garry's father, Gerald, had worked in insurance since 1968 and invited Garry to join him. Garry wrapped up his final year of teaching, and joined Farm Bureau in 1981.
"Dad was the manager of Farm Bureau East River," Garry said. They held that partnership until 1987, then Gerald and Mark went independent as Garry Financial Services until 2004.
The 2004 market was a time called a "hard market," which is something that occurs approximately every five years. At that time, it became difficult to write policies, and it was imperative that smaller insurance agents joined forces with larger companies, which could more easily write off losses or save money by employing underwriters.
Many of the contracts Garry held at that time already banked at Dacotah Bank, "so it just made sense to join them," he said. He then traveled to Sioux Falls a few times per week and maintained his offices in Garretson.
He transferred to Peoples Insurance in February 2012. Their office in Jasper was a perfect fit for Garry.
He described insurance as a way to protect your belongings, livelihood, and liabilities.
"We have too many people looking for an easy dollar these days," he said, "so the liability and medical payments on a home insurance is quite valuable.
"Today's a good example," he said, referring to the light snow that had fallen overnight. "If a child was going to school today and slipped and fell on your sidewalk in front of your house, who's liable? It's to protect you and your investments."
He said he normally tells clients that insurance is a way to put you back to where you were one second before the accident.
One of the memories he has from his work has been the ability to help families recover from a fire. Garry spent 25 years on the Garretson Fire Department, and said that when there was a fire and it was one of his clients, he knew he would be able to help them put their house back together.
Garry helped many people along the way, writing policies for everything from health and medical to home and business to farm and crop insurance.
"A jack of all trades and a master of none," he said, describing the different types of policies he specialized in. "When I was being groomed for this job, he [Gerald] said, 'The more chances you can keep a person out of your portfolio, the better you are. This means you sell one person as many items as he needs, so the next person can't come in and offer something else."
He mused about how the insurance world has changed in his 41 years as an agent.
"When we started out, these things [computers] weren't available, this was it," he said, pointing to a yellow pad. Everything was figured out by long-hand, a method Garry prefers to this day.
He marveled at how computers have changed the world of insurance. He noted things that used to take an hour can be done in thirty seconds now.
He's grateful for the agent who has been working with him for the past year, Nicholas DeWit. DeWit brought many strengths to the table, including his knowledge of computers and his ability to keep abreast of all the technological changes happening today. Garry believes DeWit will be a great agent and will help carry the legacy he and his father started in Garretson.
Garry is happy to pursue retirement, though. Shirley retired from teaching in 2015, and he said he got a taste of it this past year when he dropped down to part-time. He intends to spend plenty of time going to his five grandchildren’s activities, helping around the house with yard work, and doing some traveling.
"Whatever my wife says to do," he jokes. "We'll take it one day at a time."
