Living The Good Life With Alfa Insurance By Debra Davis
all the other farmers, too. This organization helped give me ost farmers know a good and all the farmers a voice.” investment when they Martin has been a leader see it. Fertile land, quality in the organization for years, seeds, good equipment and serving as Coffee County 1921 2021 genetically superior livestock all Farmers Federation president contribute to future success. from 1967 to 1998. Eighty-six-year-old Philip He served two terms as a state Philip Martin was 37 when bought the first Alfa Martin practiced all those things board member for Alabama Farm Life Insurance policy in 1971. Now 86, Martin said during his career, and his Coffee County Bureau, which eventually became the he didn’t realize the significance of the decision farm near Enterprise was successful. Alabama Farmers Federation. His first for several decades, joking that he’s in no hurry to But an investment made off the farm term was 1969-1971; his second was collect on the policy. generates dividends that are especially 1998-2003. meaningful, he said. Martin retired in 2004 after more “I remember my local agent, (the than 30 years as a dairyman, where he late) Ed Donaldson, told Mr. Ed Lowder he’s in no hurry to collect on the policy. milked cows by hand and later with (Alfa’s first executive vice president) if The purchase of that first life modern machinery. He’s seen a lot he’d let him sell the first new life policy, insurance policy is special to Martin of changes in agriculture and in the he would support the plan to sell life and his wife, Charlene. It represents insurance industry. insurance,” Martin said. “Mr. Donaldson hundreds of fond memories and “Alfa is still a great company today sold that $25,000-policy to me, and experiences they’ve had with Alfa and because of the great agents and I’ve never regretted it. I get a dividend the Alabama Farmers Federation. employees it has and because of the check from it every year.” “I got involved in the Alabama farmers who run the company,” Martin Alfa previously sold life insurance Farmers Federation right after I returned said. “It is still a company that is run by policies for other companies but began home from college,” said Martin, who people who live in our communities, selling its own life policies in 1971. lives a quarter mile from his childhood who worship and raise their families in Martin’s policy, Number L 001, is among home south of Enterprise. “It wasn’t Alabama. That makes Alfa special.” 299,115 policies issued by Alfa Life Co., long before folks on the county board The Martins still live on their farm on totaling nearly $30.8 billion in force. of directors asked me to join. I knew it the outskirts of Enterprise with their son, Martin was 37 on Dec. 2, 1971, when was an organization with a strong group Edwin. Their nephew raises beef cattle he bought the Alfa life policy. He said of dairymen who were politically active. in the fields near their home. Daughter he didn’t realize the significance of the They could get things done, not to Anne Marie Bliss and her husband decision for several decades, joking that mention the organization represented live in Texas with the Martins’ four grandchildren. Alfa President Jimmy Parnell said when he joined the Federation as a young man, it was men like Martin who encouraged him to take a leadership role. “For 100 years, the Alabama Farmers Federation has been led by hardworking men and women committed to improving life for people in their communities,” Parnell said. “Philip Martin embodies our core values of faith, family, community and integrity. As we celebrate our centennial and Alfa’s 75th anniversary, it’s only fitting that our first life insurance policy be held by a farmer like Mr. Martin.” For information about Alfa life insurance or to find a local agent, visit Philip and Charlene Martin have been married 62 years and have been actively involved in the Alabama AlfaInsurance.com. Farmers Federation nearly seven decades.
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March/Spring 2021
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