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History of The Mayan Agency
It’s
a long and winding path that leads from an early twentieth century harness
sales and repair shop to a successful insurance agency, but the Mayan
family of Merrill, Michigan, has successfully made the transition while
still conducting business from the site of that original 1915 tack shop.
It all began when the drums of the First World War began to rumble.
Carl Mayan and his wife, Mary, immigrated from Germany to the
United States. The couple
settled in the small central Michigan farming community of Merrill
where Carl purchased a tack shop for $100.
Carl had learned the leather trade well while serving in the German
army artillery, where horses were the primary means of transportation.
The business flourished in this fertile farm countryside, but with
the advent of gasoline-powered farm machinery, the harness business
declined and a retail clothing store including shoes and shoe repair
evolved.
Carl and Mary’s only son Rudy, worked in the family trade from a
very young age. While only in
his teens, Rudy founded the insurance agency in a corner of the store.
Rudy operated and developed the insurance business to such an
extent that by 1955, the family’s retail business was permanently closed
and the business of insurance became the sole focus.
Rudy and his wife, Mildred,
had five daughters and one son all of whom learned and worked in the
family’s insurance business as they grew up. At the time of Rudy’s untimely death in 1958, the agency was prepared to pass the reigns of ownership to the next generation. Jeanne Mayan, their third daughter, was a full-time employee at the agency. She took over the family business and in 1960 razed the original building and constructed a new one-story office. In 1977, her brother Tom, a licensed civil engineer, returned to the community and joined her as a partner in the agency. Under this new partnership, they renovated and doubled the office space, and also began representing Auto-Owners Insurance Company.
By 1986, the third generation of the Mayan family was poised to
enter the family insurance business.
Tom and his wife, Dorothy, brought their eldest son, Rudy (named
after his grandfather) to the team as an agent.
Upon Jeanne Mayan’s retirement in 1993, Rudy became a partner in
the business with his father. In
1996, a second son, Tom Mayan II, left his banking position and joined the
agency as the third partner. Together,
father and sons are making major renovations to the office in order to
provide a more efficient and customer-friendly operation.
Tom Sr. became semi-retired from the agency on January 2001. Rudy and his
brother Tom have assumed the majority of the responsibilities for running
and managing the agency.
The Mayan family is firmly entrenched in the community of Merrill.
Over the past four generations, many family members have served on
various boards and committees and have given countless hours of time to
public service. It is an
important philosophy of the Mayan family to give back to their community.
As recently as this past school year, Rudy served as head
basketball coach for the
Merrill High School boy’s varsity basketball team, and Tom served as the
assistant coach. In the
1999-2000 season, they led the team to the state finals
Their
success toward writing a balance and good book of business is apparent as
evidenced by the historic success and their continued success in providing
the proper coverage to their customers.
The
Mayans attribute their success to the business philosophy handed down by
their
by: Bob Grant, Senior Marketing Rep. |