A National Life legend died late last week. Policyholder and former employee Iole Carusi, died on Friday at the age of 105.
Miss Carusi has long served as a symbol of the special role we play in people’s lives.
Born Dec. 29, 1910, in Barre, Vermont, she was the daughter of Eugenio and Eva Carusi. She attended Barre schools and graduated from Spaulding High School in the class of 1928.
Miss Carusi bought her National Life policy on October 12, 1929, almost three weeks before the historic stock market crash. She was a 19-year-old sales clerk at a Barre grocery store. Her agent was Mr. Seger, the superintendent of the Barre Town school and a trusted family friend.
Impressed by the stability of a company that had survived both the Depression and the financial upheavals of World War II, Miss Carusi came to work for National Life as an employee in the Law Department in 1948. She retired in 1975.
Our relationship with Iole Carusi stretched for almost 90 years. Not many companies have such a long relationship with their customers.
Like the agent who first sold Miss Carusi her policy, National Life proved to be a trusted friend through the best and worst of times.
Not all of our customers are with us for 90 years but many are for 30, 40 or 50 years. And that’s why we always take the long view, looking over the next horizon – and why we have been in business for 167 years.