CASEY MURPHY/STAFF MICHAEL BOSWORTH STANDS next to portraits of his father, the late Fred Bosworth, and Billy Walsh, who started what is now Bosworth & Associates, 75 years ago. Bosworth took over the company and recently renovated the agency’s offices.

Michael Bosworth is continuing the legacy his father helped start 75 years ago. Bosworth & Associates is a full-line independent insurance agency that represents several insurance companies, picking which one best fits their 4,500 clients.

Customers are mainly from Tyler, but they do administer a couple of national programs, Bosworth said. They offer commercial insurance for small and large businesses; personalized insurance, such as home and auto; and benefits, which include health and life insurance.

“We’re probably one of the oldest (insurance agencies) where the family has had a significant role in the management of the company” throughout the years, he said.

Bosworth, 63, took over the company from his father and is now the sole owner. He has served as its president and chairman of the board since 1985.

In his nearly 40 years at the company, Bosworth said he has enjoyed having customers stay with the business throughout his time there, as well as meeting new clients. One of the insurance company’s first clients was Trinity Mother Frances, he said, adding that they continue to be a customer.

“Our focus is on customer service,” he said. “We’re going to go the extra mile for those customers and we’re going to be there when they need us.”

Their approach is to analyze a customer’s needs and find the best solution for them. “We don’t sell you insurance; we buy it for you,” Bosworth said.

 

CELEBRATING 75 YEARS

Billy Walsh started what is now Bosworth & Associates in 1939.

Walsh married into the Woldert family, which at the time owned The Woldert Co., and he started the firm to insure the family, Bosworth said.

Bosworth’s father, Fred Bosworth, started working for Walsh Insurance Agency in 1939, but was drafted in 1940. After serving in the U.S. Army for five years, Fred Bosworth returned to Tyler. Soon after he went to work for him, Walsh died. Six months later, Fred Bosworth bought the business from his widow.

The insurance company was originally located in a small building on West Erwin Street that recently has been demolished. He moved the business several times before buying its current facility on Loop 323, when it was only two lanes, in 1963.

The company’s name was changed to Fred Bosworth Insurance Agency, then Bosworth West, and again in 1984, to Bosworth & Associates.

Fred Bosworth was president and chairman of the board until he retired in 1984 and Bosworth took over. His father died in 2006.

When he graduated from Texas Tech University in 1974, Bosworth went to work for a national company in Houston that does accounting for independent insurance companies. Working for his father’s company was never in his plans. But his employer had transferred him three times already and when they wanted to move him to Buffalo, New York, he decided to come back to Tyler. His father, who had three partners at the time, hired him in 1977 as a producer.

Although he spends most of his time working, Bosworth said he enjoys being with his family, traveling and hunting when he is not at the office. He and his wife of 29 years, Susan, have two daughters who are attending Texas A&M University.

 

RENOVATIONS

Since Fred Bosworth bought the building on Loop 323 in 1963, it had been added onto it three times. As the company was preparing to celebrate its 75th anniversary this year, they decided to completely renovate it, Bosworth said.

They demolished everything but the exterior walls, even taking off the roof. They redesigned the facility to create a better work flow. They added foam insulation, energy efficient windows and a new state-of-the art HVAC system. They changed the entrance to the building from Loop 323 to DC Drive and added a parking lot behind it.

Although the inside might all be new, they have blended some of the old furniture and furnishings, such as Bosworth’s desk that belonged to Walsh.

“We’re so excited,” Bosworth said of the newly remodeled facility.

Since they have too many customers to host an open house to celebrate their 75th anniversary, they have invited each one of their clients individually to come take a tour of the renovated facility, have a cup of coffee and to talk about insurance.

CLOSER LOOK

BOSWORTH & ASSOCIATES1818 WSW Loop 323Contact: 903-561-2621; www.bosworthassociates.com