Church Mutual Insurance history

In 1901, the office was moved to a new building at 808 East Main Street.

Born in 1906 to the owners of a west side grocery store, Schuster spent his youth working at the family business.

He graduated from Merrill High School in 1924.

From 1927 throughout the Schuster years, the company was located at 1004 East First Street, now Merrill City Hall.

While the decade began on a quiet note under the continued leadership of Herman Daib, his death in 1941 would signal a growing restlessness for change.

In 1945, when Dicke retired, Schuster left Wisconsin Public Service to replace Dicke as office manager.

At the end, it was time for a full-time, working president, and Walter Schuster was handed the title in 1951.

The decision to convert “Wisconsin Church Mutual Fire Insurance Company” to “Church Mutual Insurance Company” was made in 1952; however, the transformation would take seven years.

The company’s first sales representative was hired in 1954.

The town caught his attention, and in May 1961, he became partners with Ralph Nienow to become Nienow & Nickel (later the firm of Schmitt, Nienow, Nickel & Nolan).

By the time of Walter Schuster’s retirement in March 1971, Church Mutual knew Nickel well enough to feel comfortable with handing him the reins of control.

In 1974, the President’s Circle was established to honor those who met certain sales objectives.

After several additions, it moved to its present location on the northeast edge of Merrill in 1977.

He had joined the company in early 1986 and became vice president of administration.

“It was a good move,” Nickel assessed. “It allowed us to take a good look at how the business flowed and to design the building to enhance the flow through the building.” The building doubled in size in 1987 with its first addition.

1, 2000, Church Mutual insured 70,569 religious institutions and had assets of $472.7 million.

Even after Nickel retired as CEO at the end of 2001 and left the day-to-day handling of the company to Whitburn, the rise continued.

Hawaii, the last market frontier, was added to the fold in 2003, making Church Mutual a 50-state company for the first time.

In 2004, for the first time, sales exceeded the half-billion dollar mark.

The expansion’s 2005 grand opening came not a minute too soon as employment at the Home Office exceeded 500 for the first time.

Assets passed the coveted $1 billion mark in early 2006, finishing the year at $1.066 billion, and sales were a record $575 million.

In 2007, the upward trend continued with $579.6 million in sales and assets reaching $1.18 billion.

In 2008, sales were just under $569 million as Church Mutual surpassed 100,000 religious institutional accounts.

Church Mutual stayed the course, and 2009 saw a return to profitability as the company’s policyholders’ surplus reached a record $392.6 million and admitted assets a record $1.19 billion, with sales at $568 million.

Recognizing this critical gap, Church Mutual decided to pursue this opportunity more aggressively beginning in 2011 and now has a $130 million book of business through brokers and more than 50 staff members who serve this market.

The Award in Innovation was created in 2014 to recognize mutual insurers that exemplify the vision and entrepreneurialism it takes to stay relevant in changing times.

The new 70,000 square foot wing was designed to accommodate growth and training needs through 2015 and came in on time and on budget — an accomplishment that, in large part, was due to the efforts of Holz, who served as project manager.

In 2019, the company was also recognized as the Distinguished Performer in the innovation category.

Name change: On January 1, 2020, Church Mutual converted to a stock insurer that is wholly owned by Church Mutual Holding Company, Inc.