We are family. All of us at Owens Group are pleased to congratulate our founder, Herbert Owens, on the 55th Anniversary of him creating our independent insurance brokerage. We are grateful for his foresight, leadership and ongoing insight and contributions. Bob Owens and Joe Ehrlich are celebrating their 35th and 8th anniversaries, respectively. Sharing business and family ties has been very special for our three generations. We believe family ownership maintains our trusted, personal approach to working with each of our clients. Every business day, our professional colleagues work diligently alongside of us to provide all of you with the best possible service and advice. Meeting or exceeding your expectations is the critical objective for each member of our staff.
On a very sad family note, we report the passing of Fritzi Weitzmann Owens, beloved wife, mother and grandmother. Although she never worked here, her presence was felt throughout the office – from the many clients whom she introduced, to her shared values in her own career as a portrait photographer, namely, to combine a fine product with exemplary service. Her life story, like that of her husband, Herbert Owens, began with a childhood in Vienna that was brutally interrupted by the Nazi war machine. As a 14-year-old, she and a dozen family members sought refuge in Albania which was ruled by a Muslim King, Zog I. In recognition of the role multi-faith and multi-cultural caring played in her own and so many other rescues, we have established the Fritzi Weitzmann Owens Memorial Lecture at NYU’s Of Many Institute. We will share more about this initiative in a future newsletter.