Former high school coach makes fortune in the insurance industry……………………….
While at the university, he met Joann Cole, an elementary education major from Bertram, Texas. The two were married during their senior year, and Roy graduated in 1953 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education with a major in Physical Education, a minor in Biology, and a certification in secondary education.
Immediately after graduation, Roy enlisted in the Army and served in Korea. Upon his discharge, he began his career as a teacher of biology and history at Lampasas High School. He also coached basketball and became the winningest basketball coach in Lampasas High School history. He completed his Master’s degree in Education in 1958 with a major in Physical Education and a minor in Administration in Education.
Making ends meet financially on a coach’s modest salary was not easy, so Roy decided to explore more lucrative opportunities. In 1959, he left coaching and began selling insurance for Aetna Life and Casualty Company. He and his family later moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where he joined Lincoln National Life Insurance Company. Over a ten-year span, he built his agency into one of the most successful in the company’s history. In 1972, he started his own insurance company, FIC Insurance Group. After four years and one of the most successful acquisition streaks in the industry, Roy Mitte took Financial Industries Corporation public. As chairman of the board, president and CEO of the company, he guided FIC and its affiliates to become one of the most innovative and resourceful leaders in the insurance industry.
As president of the Mitte Foundation, Roy was instrumental in structuring a nationally recognized scholarship program for the business schools at Indiana University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University and Texas A&M University. His support of Junior Achievement of Central Texas helped launch several new initiatives and expand rural programs, and his desire to give back to his home town of Brownsville helped create the Mitte Cultural District. The Mitte Cultural District incorporated funding for renovations to the Dean Porter Park area, construction of a Civic Pavilion, and establishment of the Mitte Cultural Education Center, which houses the Children’s Museum of Brownsville and the Costumes of the Americas Museum.
In 1982, Southwest Texas State University honored Roy with its Distinguished Alumnus Award, and on December 17, 2005, Texas State University-San Marcos conferred upon him and Joann Cole Mitte honorary doctor of humane letters degrees, honoris causa.
Roy F. Mitte – February 17, 1932 — January 27, 2007
SOURCE: www.mittefoundation.org/foundation/founders/
