William “Billy” Wallach, founder and leader of the Robert Plan, longtime fighter for integrity in the business, IFNY Free Enterprise awardee, and well known as a friend to the broker, died in New York on August 31st after successive bouts with cancer. According to his family, he fought like a champion, returning, incredibly, from the brink of death from sepsis and other complications just days before his heart gave out from exhaustion. It will come as no surprise to readers of this publication, that our similes and metaphors for Billy Wallach would be drawn from boxing, since this industry champion was as tough as one would imagine a Golden Glover would be. The Insurance Advocate mourns the death of this great friend and expresses the industry’s condolences to his family. We have invited his son Bobby’s reflections on his dad as a tribute to him. SA

He was more than a man…he was larger than life: a giant. Condensing my father’s 89 years into a few paragraphs is not easy. William Wallach was born on November 10, 1921 on Manhattan’s tough lower east side to Beckie and Phillip Walek, (in later years changing the spelling to Wallach). Billy grew up a tough, skinny kid with a passion for boxing. He was 18 years old and was a year away from setting the still standing record of four consecutive years as the Boys Club of New York’s Light Weight Golden Gloves Champion with the still and probably forever unbeatable record of a 15 second knockout. He intended to become a professional fighter, but fortunately for the us all the fates had other plans for him. In 1939 Billy met a stunning 15 year old brunette by the name of Frances Goodman who turned out to be the love of his life and his soul mate. Billy and Frances spent the next 69 years by each other side; raising 3 boys, Richard, Larry and this writer to be joined later by 13 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.

In 1940 Billy faced his first of several challenges. He was struck with polio, which left his right arm and leg paralyzed. Facing reality that he could no longer become a boxer, he got his first job working for an insurance company.

Working there gave him his start and idea that he could create an insurance company that would be better than any other in the industry. In the 1950’s to the 1990’s he was Don Quixote in his quest. He took his genius to vision to build the Robert Plan Corporation, which became the 5th largest privately owned company on Long Island with almost 1600 employees. It was Camelot. He was a man who never saw color, race, creed, language, age, physical handicap or education as obstacles; he asked only that if you wanted to work, you did it with integrity, commitment, and passion. He fiercely—I mean with all of fighter’s focus—fought fraud and corruption, not just because it was good business, but because it was innocent parties who were forced to pay. The Robert Plan Corporation was as unique and extraordinary a success as it was un-corporate; it was run family-styled. The founder was always “Billy” whether you worked part-time, in the mailroom, or one of his most senior executives. He led by example not by orders. He was a giant, in business, philanthropy, the community and, of course, his family. At his knee we learned that determination was a refusal to yield to wrong or evil; commitment, a passion for excellence and that pride and humility could equally co-exist.

In the end, after all his suffering, still, even on his death bed, he fought with an unquenchable optimism and force that has few words adequate for its description, other, perhaps, than champion. Our family thanks all of our colleagues and friends for the outpouring of expression in tribute to our Dad.

~Robert Wallach