Mission State Farm insurance agent celebrates 50 years
Jerry thus began his insurance career in 1974, his first office four blocks from the agency’s current location, where Sweets by Kacy sits. He and his wife furnished the building with two lawn chairs and a chestnut-colored desk and got to work.
By Maria Ruiz | February 13, 2024 | 0
Like a good neighbor, Jerry Saenz is there! What does 50 years of service look like to the average man? For insurance agent Jerry Saenz, it is helping generations of families with insuring their homes and vehicles. For this insurance agent, a chance at a career became a life-long act of service recognized by the Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce.
At the front of the building, Mayor Pro-Tem Ruben Plata and City Manager Randy Perez thanked Jerry for serving the community for over half a century. Car horns honked down the street, drivers giving their congratulations as they drove by.
“Mission is a thriving community, and for you to be here for 50 years, [and] it means a lot,” said Plata. “Congratulations, and God bless you.
Perez continued with words of gratitude to him as well.
“We thank you for not only providing jobs for your employees but also providing the security and the insurance for many of our residents here in the city,” the City Manager said. “May God continue to bless you, your family, and your business.”
Jerry Saenz, 83, held up the scissors and cut the ribbon, his wife, clients from Rio Grande City, employees, and city officials cheering alongside him before they went inside for cake and refreshments.
The Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce President Brenda Enriquez gifted the cut ribbon to Jerry, filled with signatures of the attendees, as a symbol of the community he created.
After the event, it finally hit Jerry how half a century had passed off his honest and kind work to the Mission community, teary-eyed with gratitude.
The start of a half-century career
Jerry was born and raised in Mission in1941, and attended school with the Mission Consolidated Independent School District. After graduating from Mission High School in 1960 Jerry served in the Air Force for four years. After, in 1965, he moved to Ohio. There, worked for Libby, McNiell, & Libby Canning factory, where he met his wife, Julie, and they married in 1967.
After moving back to the Rio Grande Valley in 1968 after living in Dayton, OH, Jerry finished college at the University of Texas Pan-American, now the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 1974.
As Jerry looked for a job, his friend, Ruben Cardenas, who worked at an autoshop, said his brother searched for a contender to become an insurance agent for the Mission area. Taking a chance, Jerry tossed himself into the ring, where Cardenas’ brother would be the one to refer Jerry to the State Farm headquarters in Harlingen.
“He told me about the career, the possibility of being appointed,” said Jerry, who later received the job after studying for his license.
Jerry thus began his insurance career in 1974, his first office four blocks from the agency’s current location, where Sweets by Kacy sits. He and his wife furnished the building with two lawn chairs and a chestnut-colored desk and got to work.
“The lady that had the cleaners rented that portion to me,” said Jerry. “I started there, and this building came up for sale in 1978.”
Aside from working in the insurance business, Jerry also served as a board member for Mission CISD from 1976-1978 and ran for re-election for Place 3 in 1980. Since 2006, he has served under the Civil Service Board with the City of Mission and previously served on the Planning & Zoning Board.
Insurance: A personal approach
Insurance, for Jerry, remains a personal service, which keeps customers loyal to his care in the home and auto insurance.
According to his wife, a trait that differentiates Jerry from other insurance agents is his charitability towards employees and clientele.
“If you want to have his insurance, come in, young people, then they have their children, [then] he’s got to hold the child,” said Julie. “Also, when they became teenagers, he gave them the Safe Driver…give them a talk, just like we would with our own kids…he would do that with all of our customer’s kids.”
She then continued.
“They [other agents] wouldn’t deal with their clientele like he does,” Julie said, explaining that her husband would always know his clients personally to know what they needed. “He doesn’t look at them coming in here buying more insurance. No, he’s never been like that…he’s not a pushy-salesman type.”
Employees are family
Employees under him received regard, and Jerry held patience for agents who still attended college, urging them to prioritize their education and work simultaneously.
Julie also said how he runs business with employees is simply due to his character.
“He’s very people-oriented,” she said. “He knew that if he could keep his people happy here, they would keep him happy.”
An example of this comes from a former agent’s passing after a DWI accident. Nereida Flores Garza, a secretary turned agent under Jerry’s guidance, was killed by a drunk driver in 2000, leaving behind a son and a daughter.
“We were called by the DPS to go to the 7 Mile Line to identify her,” said Jerry. “She was with me for twenty years.”
Since the accident, the Saenz family has kept in touch with Garza’s family.
At his fiftieth celebration, Garza’s daughter, Analicia Zarate, congratulated Jerry, visiting as one would with a family friend.
50 years strong and going
Since moving, Jerry has kept his business standing tall, with some of the current staff working with him for the last fifteen years.
Alma B. Morales, an agent executive assistant working with Jerry for the last 15 years, calls him ‘family,’
“He’s family to us. He’s like my dad,” she said. “He’s a wonderful person, very caring. He takes care of his employees.”
She continued.
“I haven’t had many bosses in my career, but, I mean, he’s the best I’ve had,” Morales said. “He’s always attentive to his customers. He’ll be chit-chatting with them…He’s just a wonderful man.”
Jerry stresses to incoming workers that insurance is a constant form of servitude to those who trust agents with their property and items.
“It’s business and a service,” he said. “I’ve tried to stress to the younger people coming in that you need to service what you sell. Because if it doesn’t service, then it’s gone.”
The 83-year-old said he has no plans for retirement, finding himself “comfortable in the office.”
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