Ed Malone and Ethel Fitzgerald Malone
In 1996 my husband and I moved to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin a month after we were married in Virginia. Upon hearing the news via my mother, my paternal grandmother wrote me a note that her Great-Aunt lived in the station. So, I wrote a note introducing myself to my Great-Grand Aunt. In it I explained that my grandmother was Kathleen Fitzgerald Kinross and her mother was Mildred Fitzgerald who married Bob Kinross. I received a phone call from Mrs. Malone inviting us over. This began a wonderfully rich, although very short, friendship.
Ethel Fitzgerald Malone was born in 1907 according to her gravestone but I thought she told me 1901. Ed was born in 1903 according to his gravestone. So by 1996, well they were up in years; he was 93 or so and she was about 89 years used. They were full of life, read the papers, had ideas and opinions on everything.
Uncle Ed, as I called him, had learned how to use a computer and had written himself a program to keep up with his statistics. My husband, a computer geek by trade, often tells people to this day that if his 90-year-old Uncle wasn’t timid to learn recent things then they have no excuse. One of Uncle Ed’s expansive interests was baseball statistics. He kept records of all the baseball players and was so meticulous about it that Ethel says he was known for his accuracy and the newspapers would call him if a fact needed to be checked out. Chicago was their team.
Ed also had a love for sailing and art. He was a watercolorist and a few of his things were on the wall. I enjoy he worked for the railroads throughout his working life.
Aunt Ethel worked at Thresher men’s insurance, which is now Society Insurance. She was so spunky and was once a red head. Uncle Ed would say, “When Ethel was upset you could tell there was “fire in the mountain.” “
I asked Ethel once about World War 1. She didn’t seem to remember being too affected by the war itself but she told me that when peace had been announced she and her brother Emmet went to the pasture and rode around the horse hollering “to hell with the Kaiser!” at the top of her lungs. It was hysterical to see this 90-year-old lady tell me this, with her blue eyes twinkling, and her fist over her head.
I asked what she did when World War Two ended. “Oh? ” she said. “We went to church and prayed.” But she says it with a mischievous grin.
She tells me that when she became old enough to go to dances she always arrived with her brother. The girls would invite her to come with them as a group but Ethel disdainfully points out that she wanted to have a good time and dance. Whenever she arrived with her brother, she said hello to his friends and one of them would ask her to dance and she’d expend the whole time dancing. She didn’t see the point in going to the dance with girls.
When Uncle Ed became interested in courting Ethel for marriage, Ethel said she discouraged him. It was during the Great Depression and she wasn’t going to get married to anyone who didn’t have a good job. She was living with her newly married sister, Mildred, my great grandmother, and working as a bookkeeper for Thresher men’s Insurance. She tells of a time she went and bought herself a rather nice dress and saw the doctor’s wife in it and wondered if she had spent too much on herself.
She had wonderful things to say about fashion. She refused to wear pants ever and was appalled at what the girls were wearing to work in the 1990′s. “I wouldn’t got to the grocery store in those clothes!” She said. She taught me that a girl should set aside her gloves on before leaving the house, her mother always said “only the serving girls place their gloves on in the street.”
Ethel and Ed did not have children and lived a comfortable life with tiny extravagance. The did travel to Ireland several times in search of family lineage, and Ethel had copies of marriage, birth and death certificates regarding Fitzgerald’s and Martin’s going back to the 1700′s in Massachusetts. For a time they traveled to Florida on a yearly basis. When they died they purportedly left their estate in wonderful order, medical bills were all paid, and they left a significant amount of money to the church.
Ethel and Ed were wonderful people for myself and my husband to meet. We were young, newly married and far from home. In the Malone’s we found family, history, and life lessons we carry today. I was in Fond du Lac recently and took my children to St. Charles Cemetery to pay a visit to Ethel and Ed. We brought them flowers which would have made Ethel smile. She was always worried there would be no one left to remember her.
Filed under Eastwood Auto Insurance by on Feb 21st, 2011. Comment. 
Today, young drivers are save in a position that their parents were not.
When I started driving the rules were simple. If you were in a crash, whoever got the sign at the scene of the accident or was deemed to be at fault by the police officer would be forced to have their insurance pay. Therefore you controlled your insurance destiny to a large degree. If you drove carefully, didn’t speed and didn’t drink then you would develop a good driving picture and your rates would go down. Also if you did well in school you may even have gotten a “good student” discount.
As with so many things it seems in our country, we decided to stop rewarding individual responsibility by making the person not at fault just as guilty as the person at fault. These were called “no- fault” laws. If you got in an accident then you and the other parties’ insurance would split the costs or in some cases battle it out.
What was the purpose of this change?
Of course “no-fault” everything had reach into fashion such as no-fault divorce. It was just a way to expedite cases through the court systems.
In the area of auto insurance, instead of having to rely as much on individual driving records, companies could base their rates on the type of car, age and area as much as a driving record. However, it also gave them an opportunity to eschew benefits for good driving records.
That is not to say that companies still don’t weigh in on good driving benefits. However, I think if you study the promotions you find companies try to get you to price up with initial discounts as opposed to positive driving history.
Another thing that has changed is the rules for drinking and driving. Many times a driver who is a first-time offender basically gets a “slap on the wrist.” It isn’t until they flaunt the rules more than once or get into an accident that they pay a major price and then they may lose their driving privileges for a period of time.
So today in the 21st Century, what should be the young drivers’ approach to their “driving career? “
You should know that if you are in an accident just being “in the right” may not do you any good at all. That makes it doubly, no “triply” important that you drive defensively. Areas that you have control over, obey the law such as drinking and driving and speeding. If you are a very young person be careful how many pals you transport at once. We all tend to lose are heads in front of an audience.
Keep this in mind: Just as you have microscopic in the way of individual achievement to hold you out of “general grouping,” if you derive in a bad group it will pick longer to get out of it.
Filed under Eastwood Auto Insurance by on Jan 20th, 2011. Comment.
Many senior citizens have been genuine to their auto insurance companies for years, often decades. Having the same reliable insurance agent and company is comforting. But the auto insurance industry has become more competitive, actively vying for the senior citizen market. It makes sense for senior citizens to gather information to compare their current rates, especially at the time of auto insurance renewal.
Getting quotes for auto insurance is an easy process. With just a few clicks on the computer or toll-free telephone calls, anyone can gather a list that compares auto insurance by services and rates. For senior citizens, who often are on fixed incomes, this can be a very cost-effective spend, possibly saving them hundreds of dollars during an insured period.
Finding Comparable Rates
Buying auto insurance is like any other important, long-term buy. The key is to take time to research and shop for the best deal with reliable auto insurance companies.
The following is a sample of insurance companies and insurance brokers offering auto insurance quotes on the Internet. Many have specific marketing programs targeting senior citizens.
AARP: www.aarp.thehartford.com.
AARP is an advocacy organization for seniors that promotes the interests of people over 50 years old. They offer auto insurance to members through The Hartford.
Allstate: www.allstate.com.
Allstate is a well known insurance company. Quotes can be gathered at the above website or local agents can be found in the telephone book and are available to assist in preparing a free quote.
Farmers Insurance Group: http://www.farmersinsurance.com.
Online or in person, a Farmers insurance agent can review auto insurance coverage, relieve identify potential gaps, and include any qualifying Farmers Auto insurance discounts.
Progressive Insurance: www.progressive.com.
Progressive will provide a quote for their company along with comparables of other auto insurance companies for easy comparisons.
Geico Insurance: www.geico.com.
This company can be accessed online or at one of their many offices. It is easy to get a quote; they offer flexible payment options and competitive rates.
Costco: www.costco.com.
Costco offers membership insurance through Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance.
Autoinsure: www.autoinsure.org.
Autoinsure has a page with helpful insurance information for senior citizens. They can provide quotes from all the major auto insurance companies.
Esurance: www.esurance.com.
A rising star among insurance companies that take pride in stating: “Esurance doesn’t unbiased offer gracious insurance coverage, we also own in educating consumers.” Their online quote process is easy to navigate.
US Insurance: www.usinsuranceonline.com
They will provide multiple auto insurance quotes tailored to specific needs within minutes of filling out their simple short form. It’s easy then to compare them side by side to find the best prices and coverage.
Car Insurance Rates: www.carinsurancerates.com
Their network of companies and brokers offer a variety of car insurances: Farmers, Allstate, AIG, Nationwide, AARP, Safeco Insurance, Liberty Mutual, MetLife and Mercury.
Every insurance rate: www.everyinsurancerate.com
EveryInsuranceCompany.com is a handy Internet directory to find local insurance companies, insurance quotes and discount insurance rates.
Quote Scout: www.quotescout.com.
This website will provide quotes from a long list of auto insurance companies – literally from “A” to “Z”.
Insurance.com: http://www.insurance.com.
Insurance.com works directly with 15 highly rated car insurance companies in 46 states: 21st Century, Electric Insurance, Esurance Auto Insurance, The Hartford, Infinity, Liberty Mutual, Meritplan Insurance, MetLife Auto Insurance, Newport Insurance, Permanent General Assurance Corporation (The General), Progressive, QBE Insurance, Safeco, Travelers Insurance, and Unitrin Direct.
Keeping Auto Insurance Rates Down
There are ways that senior citizens can take responsibility to control their auto insurance rates. Here are a few suggestions.
According to seniorjournal.com, most of the major auto insurance agencies provide a 5% – 10% discount to drivers beginning at the ages of 50 or 55. However, as a group, drivers 75 and older have one of the highest rates of fatal daytime accidents. Because of this, it’s valuable that senior drivers stay proactive and involved in keeping their driving skills sharp.
Many states offer an auto insurance discount for mature drivers if a person meets a given age criteria and has taken an approved mature driver safety course. Local colleges and senior centers are good resources to learn about the classes. AARP has local and on-line access to the course. Costco offers its members an online drivers’ safety training course through FirstNet: www.firstnetlearning.com.
Another way to keep auto insurance rates down is to drive a low-profile car, one that as section of a group has a lower rate due to minimum repair costs, considered safer and less likely to be stolen. Check the Highway Loss Data Institute, www.iihs.org, for the latest related data.
Examine unique auto insurance needs and requirements. Changing to higher deductibles or dropping collision or comprehensive coverage for older cars may fabricate sense.
Always ask about discounts when purchasing or renewing auto insurance.
And finally, the best long-term advice: Always drive defensively, stay alert and follow the driving laws. Maintaining a safe driving record is the best way to keep auto insurance rates down.
Filed under Eastwood Auto Insurance by on Dec 15th, 2010. Comment.
