CLI DOC Tommy Sladecek.txt
English (US)

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Uh, Tommy


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Slade.


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Uh, I'm a former chairman of chairman of the board. I served on the board for eight years. I've never been an agent. Never been an agent? No, sir. I'm not an agent. I'm a retired banker. And you are on something called the Bylaws Committee. I am. I'll tell you what the Bylaws Committee does and what the bylaws are.

Well, the bylaws committees are basically the structure of the company. It tells us what we can and can't do. I've been on the bylaws committee for a number of years, and we review the bylaws that now, every two years, it'll be every four. Uh, we reviewed the bylaws to see if there were any changes that needed to be made for the for the corporate structure.

And those changes still have to be within the strict controls. Oh, yes. A fraternal right. Yes, sir. They sure do. Tell me about those. That must be a challenge. Well, the Texas Department of Insurance dictates a lot of those changes that we have to make and we have to adhere to. So. So it's an ongoing process of the bylaws that we have to look at them and make sure they comply with those to those changes that the Texas Department of Insurance requires.

Tommy, where'd you grow up? I grew up in Gerald, Texas. Small town. Are you familiar with Gerald? Uh, I live in Austin, so. Oh, okay. Well, we have a tendency to think of Gerald as the home of that tragedy. Of the what tragedy? Oh. The tornado? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. That's


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it. Can you fix your tie? It's kind of coming out underneath here like this. It's more centered there. Okay. All right. Very good. No. I'm familiar. Gerald. Yes, yes. Most people are familiar with the tornado, which is not good. But yes, we are born and raised there.


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Went to parochial school at Holy Trinity and went to high school and general high school. Nine graduating seniors. And today? Today there are about 200 graduating seniors, so the Austin Metroplex is headed our way. What was your earliest that you can remember? Well, I mean, was your family in Catholic life?

No, it was your first. My family. My family was not in Catholic life. We were in other fraternal organizations, but not Catholic life. My first


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meeting with Catholic Life was my wife and I got married in 1974. In October, in spring of 75. Two agents, Mr. and Mrs. Martorano,


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visited me and my wife. We were canning pickles at the at the at the moment, and they sold us a life or a life insurance policy. So it was a family policy at the time. It covered myself, my wife, any future kids that we had great little policy. We had that for a number of years until we later changed that to different policies.

But that was my first with Catholic Life, was in Toronto, introduced us, put us in their branch, a temple branch, and we remained that branch until we formed our own branch in Cornhill, where I reside now, and I've been a president of that branch ever since. So what branch is Cornhill? And that one I don't know.

You don't know? Cornhill is a small community. We're about five miles south of Gerald. Uh, we got a large Catholic church. Um, a lot of my ancestors, they all, uh, that's where we originated. A lot of Czech, a lot of German. Uh, just up the road from us is Zion Lutheran Church, where a lot of Germans. So it was a Czech German community.

Uh, I married a German girl. She lived down the road from from me about a mile as a crow flies. And so we got to know each other when the high school together. She was a bit younger than I was a couple of years, but, uh, so we grew up knowing each other, but going to two different schools. But then in high school, of course, we, we joined up then.

So, uh, small community, small, but now it's not a small anymore. It's really the growth has come to, to Cornhill also. So


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what are the benefits of being a fraternal organization versus just a prudential or a it's the fraternal of the family, okay. It's a family. I have a Prudential Life Insurance. I don't hear anything from Prudential Life Insurance. I do from Catholic Life. Uh, you know, it's just to me, it's a family. It's a homegrown family.

When we have a branch social, uh, all our members get together and we have a good turnout, a very good turnout. And it seems like everybody knows everybody. It's just. It's just a family organization to me. And plus, you got the benefits of life insurance. Annuity, 401 KS. So that's kind of the benefit of Catholic life to me.

You know, if I got ten people in a room and said, we're going to have to change things or we're looking at changing things, those ten people might all agree ultimately. But if I get ten family members in there and say, we're going to have to change things a lot of time, it's more difficult dealing with close family.

It is than it is. It is. That's true. It is a change. Change is not easy. Not for. Especially for family. But it's not easy for anybody. Especially these days. Nobody wants to change. I'm old school. I like everything old school. But now you have to change. Change is inevitable. You got to do that. So. Yes.

And does it? Is it harder with a fraternal two change? No, I don't think so. Uh. Not really. I think, uh. Uh, not with Catholic life. I think we're open to change, and I don't think it's it's it's harder with the Catholic life. I don't.


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See, in your branch. Um, what's one thing that you're doing for the community that you feel very proud of? Well, well. Several things. Um, we sponsor a senior citizen supper, uh, twice a year. We have one every month for senior citizens. But different organizations do that. The other fraternal do it. So we're able to do it in April and November.

So we have a senior citizen. It's for the community. It's not just for the for our parish, it's for the community. So we have about 60 or 70 senior citizens that come for a meal. So we'll cook them a meal, we'll play bingo, we'll do some other things and give some door prizes away. And so we're kind of proud of that.

We started that and now we just started a new food pantry in Gerald, which was, you know, it started out real small by the Methodist Church in Gerald. But it's become where we served. They served probably 110 families this past Thanksgiving, and we were there to help them. Catholic life. We volunteered to help them.

Uh, they get the food from the cafeteria food bank in Austin, and so they have to unload 3,500 pounds of food. So we helped them unloaded the day of the they have it twice a month. They get the food pantry where the people can pick it up. And so we helped them back it up. Um, you know, they go shopping and we help them shop and say, you can have so many of these items and carry it to their cars.

And so we got into that. And so we're real active into that area too, because it looks like there's a real need in our area now of the food pantry.


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What was your say? I know you and your wife got your policy together. What was your first your first experience with like a branch social. What was your thought? My first branch social was in Temple Branch, and it was at that time the temple branch had a large number of people and it went to the social in it, which is the hall was full of people.

It was just amazing and said, wow, this is great. You know, and after a few years, we determined that we had enough members in Cornhill to make our own branch. And so at that time, we organized and made our own branch. And like I said, I've been a president ever since. With that branch, let me jump in and see the benefit of starting your own.

What's the benefit of starting your own branch rather than staying in town? Well, we're more localized. Temple was 30 miles away from us, and a lot of our members were from Cornhill, so why not have our local branch so we could help our local community? Not that we might help them, temple, but, you know, there we could.

We could do the work of a fraternal in a small community in our church. And and so that's kind of the benefit, I think, if if you got the people in your community organize a branch so you can have those benefits to your people there and your in your community, instead of being a member of a branch maybe a ways away from you.

So


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do you have any stories of how the branch system or path of life insurance or a policy or something has touched someone's life significantly? No, I'm not an agent, so I really haven't had that. I mean, I hear the stories, I hear some some stories of that. But not being an agent, I'm not able to to, you know, to see what the member's needs are.

I mean, the agent is the one that goes out and meets with them. And then if there's, you know, there's a death in the family, there's one that talks to the family. So haven't had that experience. That probably means everything went smoothly then as smooth as possible. Right? In those situations, there wasn't a big upheaval.

Oh no, oh no no. Catholic life is very good. I've had some, you know, comments from people that had claims and they said they were handled. And, you know, one of my kinfolk had an annuity or something. And and she said, oh, man, they were great when her husband died. They were great. They, you know, they paid the claim and and no time.

So she was very appreciative of the fast response that they would give her at the time that she needed it.


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So your career was as a banker. And so you've probably seen a lot of change too. Oh yes, ma'am. You probably really appreciate kind of what our members are needing now. Yes, yes. I've seen, you know, tremendous change in the banking industry. As you well know, I started out with a, you know, a ten key posting machine where I posted statements and customers ledgers and all of a sudden we went into computers and all of a sudden now it's all digital and online.

And so the changes. But there were good changes. I mean, I think for the banking industry as it is for the insurance industry, changes are inevitable. You've got to change what's happening in the time. And and I think I've done a good job of that. And we'll continue to do a good job with that with those changes.

Do you think Catholic life is, is um, probably one of our competitive advantages is that we can embrace change and we can embrace change. Well, I would hope so.


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Well that's it. You know,


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changes is hard for people sometimes, but sometimes it's for the good. And, you know, I think, you know, Catholic life can embrace those changes and still keep what I call the family field of the insurance.


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Is there a quote, a Bible verse, a saying or whatever, something that has inspired you in your life and how you've lived your life? If not, that's okay. It's just it's a question I ask everyone. What is that? Um. I'm sorry. Like a is there a quote or a state or something? Or a mantra? Something your dad told you?

Your mom told you that you're like, you just cling to your life? No. Not really. Uh,


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my dad said, use your head, not your hands for a for a living because he was a farmer. I born and raised on a farm. My dad told me. He said, son, he says, use your head and not your hands. And so that's kind of stuck with me over the years. That's why I became a banker, I guess. I don't know, but you made him proud. Yes.

Farm was near Gerald. Yes, sir. It was a little peaceful. So, I mean, uh, sorghum, uh, mostly cotton and corn. And, you know, I tell my kids I picked cotton and a hoed corn, and they don't believe me, but I did. I did that when I was young and and went to parochial school. And the kids in the summertime, they were, oh, man, we're going home for summer.

I didn't want to go home for summer because I had to go in the field to work. You know, they went home to do nothing, and I had to go home, and I was in the field. So it wasn't a good time for me. In the summertime I stayed in school. So it was a you know, that's the thing to me that in the Catholic life you just everything that I see, it kind of does really imply a almost an earlier time.

Yes, yes, yes. Quiet community and everything. And yet Gerald. Right. I mean, look at Gerald. Look at Gerald. It almost looks like you're got to be close to the space. Yeah, I mean, it's just blowing up, right? Yeah. Does that does that world that's already here, does that threaten Catholic lives? No, I don't think it threatens the Catholic life.

I think the Catholic life will adjust to that. I mean, we have to. I mean, that's that's, you know, part of the deal. We have to adjust to that. I think we will. I mean, I have no doubt that we've adjusted over the last 125 years. We've adjusted to that. So I think that's that's not an issue about adjusting to the to the current state of what's happening in the world.


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What years were you present? Every chair. I was chair from 2008 to 2012. I just wanted to. Yes. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. And I've been to several conventions, and they're always an exciting time. We had fun and we took care of business, so it was good times. Can you do both? Yeah. That's right. Good. Are we good?


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I think we're good. All right. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yes. Chair.