From Humble Beginnings
The idea for founding Funeral Directors Life Insurance Company (FDLIC) came in 1977 when a group of four independent funeral directors who owned their own funeral businesses put their heads and resources together to solve a problem. They were concerned about the fair and proper representation of prepaid funerals in their communities as well as the long-term effects that prepaid funerals would have on the value of their businesses. In those days, the needs of their funeral homes and their communities were not being met with a safe and secure preneed insurance product, so they decided to do something about it.
In 1981, Bill Seale, Ernest Welch, Melvin Storm, and Tom Branon, the founders of FDLIC, purchased a small mutual aid insurance company called Wilkerson Burial Association in Brady, Texas. They then converted the mutual aid company into a legal reserve life insurance company, which was the first ever conversion of its kind in Texas. Our founders' initiative and innovative, solution-finding attitude effectively set the tone for the future of FDLIC.
In 1986, the Company moved from its original headquarters in Brady to Abilene, Texas, which was a large, centrally located metropolitan area where the ownership group could easily come together for board meetings. The Company began as a humble operation that provided safe and secure preneed products for the small communities our founders served. However, the stage was set for FDLIC to grow exponentially through the coming years.
Gaining a National Presence
FDLIC has now grown far beyond our original founders' expectations. FDLIC is licensed in 44 states and is currently producing actively in 33 of those states. As a Company, we serve funeral homes and marketing partners all over the nation. Our Company's business philosophy is "To Be the Best, Most-Respected Provider of Service to the Funeral Industry." The Company is not striving to be the biggest company, or the most profitable, in the industry. We are simply dedicated to being the best and the most-respected, and that has made all the difference as we have continued to establish a national presence and gain recognition for our excellence in service and leadership across the country.
In 1990, FDLIC was recognized by INC Magazine as one of the 500 fastest-growing, privately-held companies in the country. In the beginning, the Company grew mainly through referrals from satisfied customers. Funeral directors would hear from other funeral directors that FDLIC operated a little differently than other preneed companies and that it seemed to have something special and unique about its culture and service. So the Company, like many funeral homes do, grew simply because customers valued a relationship enough to tell others about it.
Later, FDLIC grew both by expanding into new territories and by concentrating on growing the businesses of current preneed partners. Soon, it became evident that we would need larger facilities to house the number of employees necessary to better serve our future customers. In 1994, FDLIC moved into its current office headquarters located at 6550 Directors Parkway in Abilene, Texas where the Company continues to operate to this day. The new office allowed for more space to accommodate future employees and for expanded service offerings that would eventually be developed for FDLIC customers.
Since 2000, FDLIC has evolved and expanded even further. Because we wanted our focus to remain on serving each of our individual customers to the best of our ability, several changes took place over the years. Every customer had unique and individual needs, so our product offerings were updated and broadened to provide more variety and give funeral home owners more choices for their preneed programs. The focus of the Company shifted from marketing mainly to individual consumers towards providing a full-service approach to client funeral homes and marketing organizations. The FDLIC sales structure was further refined to better serve each customer, and our state-of-the-art training department was developed to train our sales managers as "knowledgeable, trusted business advisors" to our customers.
When it was founded, FDLIC fulfilled a need that funeral home owners were experiencing, and as a Company, we continue to search for and provide innovative business solutions for professionals in the funeral service industry. Our Board of Directors is still made up primarily of both active and retired funeral service professionals. In fact, Ernest Welch, the last remaining founder of FDLIC, is still an active and vital member of the board to this day. This committed involvement by funeral service practitioners ensures that the needs and interests of funeral directors and their families are always represented in our board meetings and upheld in the Company's decision-making process. Because we've never lost sight of our roots in the funeral service profession, we have always been able to differentiate ourselves from large, conglomerate competitors. We offer our clients not only a relevant perspective, but valuable insight, personal service, and knowledgeable, trusted advice. Overall, our unique perspective and experience as a Company has greatly contributed to our rapid growth and continued success.