was a Brigadier General . He first enlisted in the U . S . Army in 1915 with the first Kansas Infantry Regiment . He served in World War I and World War II . In 1949 he a member of the Department of the Army General Staff . In 1952 he was promoted to Brigadier General and was made Assistant Division Commander of the 35th Infantry Division . In 1953 Frank was named chairman of the Heart Campaign by the Kansas Heart Association . He died on October 7th , 1982 at the age of 85 .
• Dwight D . ( Ike ) Eisenhower – Dwight was born October 14 , 1890 and died on March 28 , 1969 . Dwight D . Eisenhower became the 34th President of the United States on January 20 , 1953 . He was the first president from Kansas . This is the highest honor of the American people . In him receiving the honor , the state of Kansas was also honored . It rejoiced in the privilege of sharing the honor with its native son . “ We , the members of the Kansas Association of Insurance Agents and citizens of Kansas congratulate Dwight D . Eisenhower upon becoming the first citizen of the land ; we wish him good health , sound judgement , and courage of the heart during his term of office , and we pledge to him our loyal support in carrying out every worthy move for the good of our people and for the peace of the world .” He was president from 1953 to 1961 . He was a Five-Star General in the United States Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe . In 1954 he proclaimed December 15th as “ S-D Day ” ( Safe Driving Day ). He considered Abilene , Kansas his hometown . Upon his death on March 28 , 1969 , after lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda , he was sent to the National Cathedral where he was given an Episcopal Church funeral service . That evening , Eisenhower ’ s body was placed on to a train in route to Abilene . This was the last time a funeral train was used as part of the funeral proceedings of an American president . His body arrived on April 2 , and was interred that day in a small chapel on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Library .
• Burton B . Elder , Jr . – Burton was president of the association in 1961 . He started in the insurance business in 1939 as an insurance adjuster in Oklahoma City . He enlisted in the Seabees in 1943 and was in the military for 2 ½ years . He formed a partnership with the Robert C . Reed Insurance Agency in 1949 and purchased the agency 1954 . It was in Elkhart . He was also Mayor of Elkhart . Burt was a member of Elkhart Lions Club , Masonic Lodge , and a director of US Highway 56 .
• Gene A . Elliot – Gene served as NAPIA director in 1993 after KAIA merged with the PIA . Gene continued to serve as state national director for six years , from 1994-1999 . Gene was from Hutchinson and owned the Elliott Insurance Agency .
• Paul A . Elliott – Paul was president of the association in 1977 . Paul was from Wichita .
• Charles R . ( Rick ) Elliott – Rick was president of the association in 2009 . Rick was owner of Elliott Insurance Group in Louisburg . Rick said on his President ’ s Page “ Tough times don ’ t last but tough people do ”. Prior to being president , he was president of the Young Agents in 1997 . Rick started in the agency in 1984 , selling and servicing crop insurance . In 1987 he moved into the property and casualty business . In 1997 he became president of the company . He served as Chairman of the Combined Agents of American , a Texas based organization . Rick was very active in his community where he was president of the Chamber of Commerce , Rotary Club , and the Louisburg Area Recreational Association while also coaching basketball and softball for them . He served on several boards in his church . In 2019 , Rick received the KAIA Distinguished Service Award .
• Louis J . ( Jay ) Fankhauser – Jay was president of the association in 1996 . He was the managing partner of Fankhauser & Sheik in Bern . Jay was in the insurance business since 1966 . Jay states in his first president ’ s article in the KAIA magazine : “ My main mission is to perpetuate the independent insurance agency as it is today and create an atmosphere to propel that entity into the 21st century ”. He was very concerned with
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