Insurance Agent

Edgar A. Rowe, a retired insurance agent and World War II veteran, died of cancer Nov. 4 at North Arundel Hospital. The Glen Burnie resident was 81. Born in Baltimore and raised on North Broadway, he attended city public schools. From 1943 to 1945, he was a medical technician in the Army. He took part in the D-Day landing at Normandy Beach on June 6, 1944. After the war, he was a Sun Life Insurance Co. sales agent for 35 years. Services were held yesterday. Survivors include his wife of 57 years, the former Dorothy Dernetz, a retired Army secretary at Fort Meade; three sons, Michael Rowe of Glen Burnie, Gary Rowe of Severna Park and David Rowe of Frederick; a daughter, Mary Rowe Echevarria of Edison, N.J.; and two granddaughters.

John Edwards Geare, a retired insurance agent who was active in Cumberland civic affairs, died Saturday after surgery at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. He was 89. A former Cumberland and Gibson Island resident, he had resided at the Broadmead Retirement Community in Cockeysville since 1998. Born in Cumberland, he was a 1932 graduate of St. James School in Hagerstown, where he later served on the board for 33 years. He earned a degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., where he played football and was class president.

A Baltimore County insurance agent pleaded guilty to fraud yesterday, admitting that he had swindled more than $1.5 million from various companies between January 2000 and January last year. Alfred Murray Slattery, 46, the former president and owner of Towson-based National Insurance Services, admitted in Baltimore County Circuit Court that he created fake insurance policies and financing agreements to steal from his clients and banks. The Maryland attorney general's office, which prosecuted the case, is expected to ask that Slattery serve time for his felony insurance fraud conviction.

DO YOU have even the slightest clue about CLUE? Do you know that an innocent phone call to your insurance agent asking about the deductible on your homeowner's policy could trigger an electronic loss report on your home to a national database, even if you never file a claim and pay for all repairs yourself? Sound bizarre? Welcome to the emerging Alice-in-Wonderland world of homeowners insurance, where not only do you have a personal three-digit risk score, but your house has its own separate electronic dossier accessible by insurance companies nationwide.

Turner Read Fulton Jr., a life insurance agent, died Thursday at his Pinehurst home after a heart attack. He was 79. He had a long career in the insurance business. He was an agent with Guardian Life, managed an Aetna Life office in Baltimore and later became an independent agent before retiring about 14 years ago. His business affiliations included memberships in the Chartered Life Underwriters Association and the Baltimore Junior Chamber of Commerce. A Baltimore native, he was a 1942 graduate of McDonogh School, where he was president of his class and captain of the football, wrestling and lacrosse teams.

Karl J. Mattheiss, a longtime Baltimore insurance salesman, died of heart failure yesterday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. He was 85 and lived in Oak Crest Village in Parkville. Born in Locust Point, Mr. Mattheiss was a 1935 graduate of Polytechnic Institute. He worked briefly as a plumber before joining his brother and father in starting Mattheiss Brothers, an insurance business on Gay Street in downtown Baltimore. Because he had contracted polio as a child, Mr. Mattheiss was ineligible for military service during World War II but became a Civil Defense volunteer.

An Ellicott City man accused of misusing more than $550,000 was charged yesterday with misappropriation of insurance premiums, Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. announced. Burke Allen Walker, 45, of the 2900 block of Mount Snow Court is accused of misappropriating insurance premiums belonging to Gerling NCM Credit Insurance Inc. between Oct. 16, 2000, and May 3, 2001, according to officials at the Maryland attorney general's office. Walker, an independent insurance agent, did not forward the premiums to Gerling and instead used them for his personal business, said officials at the attorney general's office.

Stephan Timchula, 76, Baltimore police captain Stephan Timchula, a retired Baltimore police captain, died Thursday of heart failure at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson. The Glen Arm resident was 76. A 28-year veteran of the Police Department, Mr. Timchula was commander of the Southeastern District when he retired in 1987. He joined the force and served initially in the traffic division. He also had worked in the department's communications division and was construction coordinator for the Central District building during the 1970s.

I am a 32-year-old attorney with a wife, two children and my own law firm. I am in the process of setting up some form of employer-funded retirement plan, and my insurance agent (and family friend) is telling me I should buy variable life insurance. While I have pretty much convinced myself that variable life insurance is not for me, my wife, who trusts the agent, thinks I don't understand the product and says our friend would not steer us in the wrong direction. What do you think? I think even the best-intentioned insurance agents can get excited about a product and not realize that it isn't the best fit. Variable life insurance - a life insurance policy that combines a death benefit with an account that can be invested in stocks, bonds and cash - can be a reasonable, if relatively expensive, option for high-income people who need life insurance and who have exhausted other tax-deferred ways of saving for retirement.