TitleBytes News & Happenings
Why Say Something in a Few Words That Can Be Said In 10,000? – Allan G. Dick
Nov 16, 2020
By Jacquie Brink, SVP- Great Lakes Division, WFG National Title Insurance Company
Vince Lombardi once said, “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.” I believe Allan G. Dick felt there were no true words spoken. If you haven’t already heard, Allan will be officially retiring on December 31, 2020, which will mark 50 years in the title insurance industry. Now that’s quite an accomplishment! Since this will be the last Title Bytes of the year, I felt it was important to acknowledge Allan’s contributions to the MLTA publications over the years. I did some research, and thanks to MLTA Past Presidents Connie Curio, Bob Wuerfel, and Bill Robinson, I was able to get some pretty cool history, and how Allan got involved.
In the early 1990’s, Past President Fred Pepper asked Connie Curio to be the first Editor of the Title Examiner due to her experience as a reporter. During the first committee meeting, she was joined by Allan Dick, Bill Robinson, and Michelle Lievois. Carol Woznicki also joined them in those early days, and that group became the first Communications Committee. Connie recalled that Allan was a feature writer, and was always full of great ideas and never at a loss for great words.
As time went on, he created the recurring column, “Abstractions”. According to Connie, the purpose of this column was to catch “bits and pieces” of industry information to create one large article, and also if needed, be used to focus on a specific issue at hand. She remembered how fun it was for the group to meet in person in Lansing once a month for an entire afternoon. (Zoom was definitely NOT a thing back then). They would create their own mini newsroom at a local hotel restaurant, which is a fond memory for her. Connie also recalled that during the MLTA’s Centennial, Allan worked extremely hard on creating a book commemorating the first 100 years of the association.
Bill Robinson recalled that when they started, it was planned to be a couple of page newsletter, but once Allan got involved, it turned into a book. Somehow I feel that Mr. Robinson, who is never at a loss of words to share either, also had a few extra pages to add.
Bob Wuerfel started working on the Title Examiner in 2007 with Allan when he was spearheading the Association’s newsletter as the Editor, and Chair of the Communications Committee. Bob recalls how Allan’s ability to gather tidbits of information to share with the MLTA membership for his “Abstractions” column was outstanding, and he could always count on him. Bob also shared a picture of a coffee cup that he still has, that he received from Connie that has the Title Examiner logo. This cup apparently goes back to the 1980’s. I’m convinced that Allan probably has an entire case of those coffee cups somewhere in his basement, and his wife Anne is on his case to get rid of them.
Throughout the years, Allan was the first to volunteer and to assist to help anyone that needed it. He later became Editor of the Title Examiner, and loved to help people with editing their articles. Since the Association has transitioned away from the Title Examiner print newsletter to the blog style of the Title Bytes, Allan has still been involved as Editor, and has helped train Heather Moldovan, as she now takes the reigns.
For me personally, gathering this information was so much fun, and it was really hard not to call Allan and ask him questions and spill the beans on what I was working on. There were so many neat stories, that I realized if I wanted to share them, I would be channeling my inner “Allan”, and would never be able to fit them in this article in 750 words or less! So, I decided to ask a few people to share their thoughts, and with Marcy Lay’s help, we have created this video for Allan to thank him for his dedication. Your valuable contributions will be missed, but you will not be forgotten. Thank you Obi Wan, it’s been a fun ride.