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Making insurance history with hard work

JOLIET — Behind every dark cloud is a silver lining, as the saying goes, but when George L. Tyus III was laid off from his job at Sears in 1958, he had no idea that it would lead him to become a trailblazer in the insurance world. "There were no jobs per se and I met this good friend of mine named Charles Hudson. He asked me what was I doing, and I said, 'I'm looking for a job,'" said Tyus. When Hudson asked him if he was interested in prospecting, Tyus responded, "What's prospecting?" ...

  After Hudson explained prospecting to Tyus, the 22-year-old brought back more than 300 names of people who might be interested in purchasing insurance. Hudson was so impressed he took Tyus to meet his boss.

  The rest is history.

  Tyus started out as a debt agent who went door-to-door selling insurance and collecting premiums. Starting with nothing, Tyus built his business to a weekly debt collection of $575, on which he earned a 20 percent commission.

  "There is no built-in salary like there is today," Tyus said. "In my day, that did not exist. We started from absolutely zero."

  Within a few years, he met Hillman Patton, who ultimately became his business partner and his sister-in-law's husband.

  Patton and Tyus Insurance Agency opened in Joliet in 1966, creating the second black-owned insurance agency in the city. In Aurora in 1967, they opened the first insurance agency owned by African-Americans in that community.

  Those were significant events, because Tyus says it was very difficult for blacks to get insurance in the 1960s. None of the top insurance companies would insure blacks, nor did they have black agents.

  In 1971, Tyus purchased Patton's interest and was joined by his wife in an office in Joliet.

  "My wife did everything," Tyus says proudly. "She was a mother, a businesswoman and a wife all in one."

  The Tyus children were 10, 11 and 12 when Ruby Tyus decided she wanted to get involved in something outside the home.

  "I felt that I needed something to do and I got out and got involved," she said. And she stayed involved as a licensed broker for 30 years, going into semi-retirement in November 2000.

  Like her husband, Ruby liked the idea of being her own boss.

  A bit of that independent spirit must have rubbed off, because in 1994 their daughter, Rita Tyus James, joined them in the business.

  Rita graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee in 1984.

  Prior to joining her parents, she worked as a sales manager for a recruitment research firm.

  "I wanted to be an entrepreneur because I grew up with two entrepreneurs in the family and I wanted to be able to run the business once my parents retired," James said. "I don't want all of their hard work to go down the drain."

  Although Rita was a little girl when her parents began breaking down the walls of racism, she knows exactly what her parents lived through.

  George Tyus is not shy about discussing the barriers he faced. In fact, he believes young people need to know that black people have not always had the opportunities they now have.

  When husband and wife were looking for a downtown Joliet office in 1971, they had to sublet the suite from furrier Arvid Kastman at 19 E. Van Buren St..

  "We are now the oldest tenant in the building," George says proudly."We have seen them come and go. Not only that, we have expanded."

  The company now takes up two office suites at 9 E. Van Buren St. just down the sidewalk from where they started and they do business across the Midwest. George said they also have clients in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri.

  The Tyus agency was the first black-owned agency in Kane, Will or DuPage counties to carry Aetna insurance in 1971.

  "And it was a big deal," George said. "We guarded it with our life. It was so unheard of" for a black to sell insurance from any of the top companies.

  Some insurance agents also refused to insure blacks or anyone who live din certain neighborhoods where blacks were known to live.

  "In many instances, it became popular to 'red line,'" George began.

  "Red lining is a restricted area," Rita said. "It's illegal now, but back then ..."

  "It was the norm," George said. "It was the thing to do."

  But after more than 40 years in the business, George says a lot has changed.

  "I know my craft and my trade," he said. "I'm one of the best in the business."

  Although his business started out serving black clients, he now serves black and white alike.

  "In today's market, I'm just another insurance man," he said.

  But at age 65, and with a daughter at the helm, he still does not think about retirement.

  "It's my passion," George said. "I love it. I wouldn't know what to do with myself at this stage of the game. When you build something, it's not like an inheritance. I don't plan to ever retire. I'll be doing this until the day I die."

  But George admits he does not work the 12 or 14-hour days that were common decades ago.

  More than anything, George wants people to take advantage of the opportunities that are available.

  "I want people to realize, especially black folks and black children that there are opportunities," he says. "I really want to stress that, because I am a quote, unquote 'minority.'"

  "Opportunity does exist, but you have to go after it," said Rita. "And you can't give up the minute the going gets hard."

  "There's nothing given to you," George said. "You have to pursue your dream and the opportunities that are set before you, but there are no free lunches."