Saying Goodbye to Buck and Tom
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This past month we lost two great industry leaders: Charles B. “Buck” Gibson, Sr. and William Thomas “Tom” Parsons. Both of these gentlemen are why I have enjoyed the association profession for over 30 years … you have the opportunity to meet some of the finest people in the country.
Buck had a storied career. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1953 to 1957 at Andrews Air Force Base. After leaving the Air Force, he worked for Metropolitan Life and then started his own business — Charles B. Gibson Insurance Agency, which in 2001 was acquired by Bankers Insurance. At one-point, Buck invented an industry tool — Proposal Maker — that was marketed by Travelers Insurance.
He served as President of IIAV and was recognized as the IIAV Outstanding Agent of Virginia – Golden Eagle Award. He was also extremely active in his community.
Tom Parsons was also a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He served his active duty at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio and then was attached to the N.C. National Guard in Charlotte. He joined Connecticut General Life Insurance Company and then became President of Robert C. Boswell, Inc., an independent agency located in Bristol, Va. After Boswell was sold, Tom started his own insurance and financial services agency.
Tom served on the Board of IIAV’s for-profit subsidiary, the Virginia Financial Services Corporation, and also was honored by IIAV as the Agent of the Year receiving the Golden Eagle Award.
I knew Buck mostly through his children and especially Chuck Gibson, who was the first every year to “volunteer” to help with the IIAV/Trusted Choice Junior Golf Tournament. Tom was one of the first IIAV members I met after I was appointed to be CEO of the Big “I.” I remember him coming to the door in my office and he filled the frame, an enormous fellow. I can now say my first thought was that this guy must have been a Marine in his day and he probably captured an island in the Pacific with his bare hands.
As we prepare for the Young Agents Conference in Staunton, Va., this coming October, I wish we could have held an “interview” session with both Tom and Buck. They had a lot of history and knowledge to impart to all of us and especially those who want to excel in our profession.
Above all else, I would suspect that both of these men were successful in our profession because they cared about others. In a reverse of the "Godfather" tradition, with Buck and Tom it wasn’t “business” … it was personal and there’s a lot more pressure when friends depend on you to protect their family, businesses and selves personally.
I would encourage every young agent to pull out the IIAV Directory and Users Guide and look for the section on our Golden Eagle Award recipients, then call on them and take them to lunch. Listen to what they have to say and their experience. I suspect you will learn more from these professionals than any CE class available (Don’t tell our Director of Education Carter Lyons that I said that though.)
I will miss Buck and Tom. We will all miss them. I honor them both!
Robert N. Bradshaw, Jr., MAM
IIAV President & CEO
