Three Men — One Legacy

After 30 years of dedicated service, David Ruff stepped down as secretary/treasurer of Farmers Mutual of Plymouth, IN, on December 31, 2019. He continues to handle his clients’ insurance needs and serves on the company’s board of directors. In this blog, we celebrate the ethos that guides our insurance agency in Plymouth, Indiana, and inspires each of us who are honored to be Farmers Mutual members…

The People Behind

Charles Ruff, Dave’s grandfather, was a member of the Farmers Mutual’s board of directors from 1924 to 1953. Charles was appointed as a member by then secretary, J.H. Easterday. After his 29 years of service, his son, John Ruff, was elected to the board of directors on March 7, 1953. He would serve as a member of the board until June 29, 1965. This is the day the board of directors appointed him to the position of secretary/treasurer to fill the unexpired term of Clayton Weis, who had since passed due to a heart attack just two months before.

John Ruff continued to serve as secretary/treasurer until his resignation in September 1988. However, he was soon appointed Director Emeritus and stayed with Farmers Mutual for several years after his resignation. Dave Ruff, John’s son, was appointed to the board of directors for a three-year term on March 2, 1985, and on January 1, 1989, he was elected to fill his father’s position as secretary/treasurer.

Dave witnessed many significant developments in the insurance industry during his 30 years as secretary/treasurer of Farmers Mutual, including...

• More complex insurance issues now necessitated more education and training for directors and employees.
• The Insurance Department mandated licensing requirements on all directors.
• Fewer but much larger farms became the new normal.
• Insurance now covered modern technologies such as mobile phones, computers, and home surveillance systems.

With the insurance landscape evolving, Dave relocated the Farmers Mutual office from an upstairs bedroom in his parents’ farmhouse to its current location in Plymouth, Indiana. He also modernized the bookkeeping, transitioning from handwritten ledgers to purchasing the company’s first computer. All of his initiatives resulted in a surplus fund rise to just under $4,000,000.

What Lives On

Farmers Mutual was formed in 1872 on small-town values—a handshake, a signature, and your word will do. This ideal has always been in the minds of Charles, John, and Dave Ruff, and that will be our legacy. At Farmers Mutual of Plymouth, IN, we still hold the same ideals we were raised with and believe in the idea of neighbors supporting neighbors in times of need.

Farmers Mutual’s success has been a collaborative endeavor by a long list of members named Watkins, Frick, Mangus, Laudeman, Weis, Davenport, Dare, Easterday, Schori, Langfeldt, Miller, and many more. Everyone who has served, is serving, or will serve Farmers Mutual in the future is a steward of the legacy entrusted to them, and they truly stand on the shoulders of giants. So, to Charles, John, and Dave Ruff, as well as anyone else who has brought us where we are today, we say Thank You!

What That Means For You, Our Insured.

At 10:30 pm one evening, a Farmer’s Mutual insured had a tree fall across a power line and land on the roof of his home. Power was out, the freezer was slowly defrosting, rain was potentially leaking through his destroyed roof, and he wasn’t sure what to do. 

So he called his agent’s personal cell phone.

At 10:30 at night, his agent calmly helped talk him through the process, helped contact the power company and tree removal service, and provided assurance that the insurance company was there to help. 

In a nutshell, that’s Farmers Mutual.

Farmers Mutual of Plymouth, IN has been based on small-town values since 1872; a handshake, a signature, and your word have always been enough. A perfect blend of small-town and large company, premiums established from neighbors helping neighbors. This company is owned by its policyholders, the members. There are no shareholders, no dividends, no profit margins to be met. In that respect, Farmers Mutual is still a small-town company; we firmly believe in the concept of neighbors helping each other when a need arises. 

Our agents know what type of policies you need, will help educate you on the different coverages, and are always there. Contact us for your complimentary quote, we bet you’ll be happy you did.