Lawrence Wansing, 85, of Meta, recently retired from the board of St. Thomas-Babbtown Mutual Insurance Company after serving 33 years on the board including 17 years as board president. He served in the leadership role from 2003 until he retired from the board at the annual meeting on Feb. 10, 2020. Wansing is the second longest-serving board member of the company.

Wansing’s wife of 58 years, JoAnn Wansing, was present at the annual meeting at the Meta Civic Hall. The company invited its clients for a luncheon type meal, live music, and a chance to win prizes in a drawing. About 80 people were present this year. There was a cake specially made in his honor for the occasion and he was presented with a plaque recognizing his service.

Wansing said that when he first became a member of the board in 1987 he was already serving on several boards, including the Fatima School Board. He was approached by Jim Luebbering, who said they were having trouble finding members for the board. He said he would do it until they found somebody else to do it. Wansing ended up staying on the five-member board and is proud of what they accomplished.

When he became a board member the mutual insurance company had about 700 policy holders and $35 million in force. Now the company has 850 clients and $125 million in force. Wansing said it is a strong company that insures farms, homes and businesses, autos and more including liability insurance and earthquake insurance. It was founded in 1892.

He explained that most of the mutual insurance companies were formed after the Civil War. Missouri was a very divided state, with people who were Union sympathizers, and also people who favored the Confederacy. It was a state with many people who did not like people who favored the other side and there was a lot of barn-burning and destruction. Insurance companies at the time would not insure clients in Missouri because of all the hatred and destructive behavior among the people who lived there. People still wanted insurance so they came together to form mutual insurance companies owned by the clients. St. Thomas-Babbtown is one of those companies. The company is served by an office on Main Street in Meta by agent Carolyn Brockes.

Current board members are Jeff Tellman who serves as secretary/treasurer, Frank Veltrop, a 21-year member who served as vice president while Wansing was president and has taken over as president now, Charles Schroeder, a 17 year board member, Shelby Barnhart and David Hammon.

Wansing said he is proud of the work the board did with the insurance company. The board members were community-minded, and always looking for ways to benefit both the company and the policy holders. Wansing said he retired when he did because of his great respect for Jim Luebbering, who was the longest-serving board member with 35 years of service. Luebbering passed away five years ago.