Our Company History - Partee Insurance
W.C. Gorman Sr. added insurance to the services available in his real estate office in Wilmar, California in 1928. (Wilmar is now the southwest part of Rosemead). The first insurance companies he represented were the Aetna Insurance Co. and Century Indemnity Co., the New York Underwriters, a part of the Hartford Insurance Group, and later the Ohio Farmers Insurance Co. and the Trinity Universal Insurance of Texas.
Insurance was subordinate to the real estate function. In 1949, William C. Gorman Jr. joined the business after discharge from the U.S. Army Air Corp. and graduation from Pomona College. With new energy, the insurance volume slowly began to grow.
The various insurance agents located within the Garvey School District individually wrote various policies on the buildings, equipment, buses and liability. The result was a very hit and miss coverage for the District. Finally, the agents met at the school and formed the South San Gabriel Insurance Agents Association for the purpose of writing on comprehensive policy with proper limits for the schools. W.C. Gorman Jr. was the President and Clyde Mallory of the Mallory Insurance Agency was the underwriting secretary. All of the agent members shared in the commission and the school district had good comprehensive coverage. As a sidelight of this organization, W.C. Gorman became better acquainted with all these other local agents.
Over the years, when other insurance agents decided to retire, they contacted W.C. Gorman to buy their accounts. The first such merger was Driggs Agency, So. San Gabriel in 1952. This was followed by: John C. Russell Agency, El Monte and C.A. Traub Agency, Monterey Park, 1952; Louis Penland Agency, So. San Gabriel, 1953; C.D. Fabrick Agency, San Gabriel, 1955; Haseltine Agency, So. San Gabriel, 1956; Mellinger Agency, San Gabriel, 1957; Edgar Harmon Agency, San Gabriel, 1958; Mallory Agency, So. San Gabriel, 1969; Dickerson Agency, Rosemead, 1970; John Whalen Agency, Rosemead, 1971; and the Clyde Stahl Agency, San Gabriel in 1972. The final acquisition was the Concialdi Agency in Alhambra in 1973. All of these agencies were one-man businesses, some on a part-time basis. Each of these agents contacted W.C. Gorman to buy their business on a renewal paid basis, except two very small ones that were paid cash.
The W.C. Gorman Insurance Agency had about 50 customers in 1949, and when it was sold to Wayne Partee in 1980, there were 1,500 customers. The detail work involved in those days without computers was getting overwhelming. With the new technologies today and the different role played by the local agent, an agency has to be very large in order to exist.
The Partee Story...Established in 1972, Partee Insurance Associates, Inc. has developed into one of the major risk management brokerages in southern California for personal, business and employee benefits insurance. We have solidified our base with strong marketing strategies while building firm relationships with our growing client base. We concentrate on earning the respect of our clients through 'partnering' and making ourselves accountable for what we bring to the arena.
We are not all things to all people... Our Commercial Insurance specialty is manufacturing, distribution/wholesaling, consulting and building contracting operations. Among these are: Plastic Products, Specialty Wood Products, Builders Supply Products, Electronic OEM Products, Food Processing, General and Sub Contractors.
In personal insurance for home and auto our emphasis is on service and coverage first so that our client's personal assets have the best solution protection-wise as they desire it to be.
Honesty, efficiency, accuracy and respect... are our core values with all of our clients.
Our vision is to provide our clients with the best possible service and coverages... We first grasp how prospective clients do business because everyone is different. Then, we focus on the areas that require strong insurance protection. Next, we will assure that the timeliness, quality and quantity of our plan will keep our clients in business when the "dust clears" after a loss. This involves General Liability, Commercial Property, Operating Profit, Accidental Breakdown, Commercial Fleet, Product Liability, Contractual Liability, Intellectual Property, Commercial Umbrella/Excess Liability and other areas including Fiduciary, Contract and Performance Bonds...anywhere that our clients are exposed to catastrophic losses.
