Thomas John Wolff, of Boynton Beach, FL and Vernon, CT, age 80, chairman emeritus and former chief executive officer of Wolff-Zackin Associates and Vernon Publishing Services in Vernon, Connecticut, died October 27, 2008 in Boynton Beach, FL. He and his wife, Bette Wolff, came to Vernon when they were married in 1949 and spent many active years in the community.
Wolff was a graduate of the New York Agricultural and Technical Institute in Farmingdale, New York. He spent five years as a Dairy Herd Improvement Supervisor in Tolland County. He served in the 43rd Division, serving in Germany during the Korean War. Upon discharge as a Master Sergeant he returned to school and graduated from the University of Connecticut cum laude with distinction in economics in 1956.
Upon graduation he began his insurance career and became one of the best known and widely respected leaders in the life insurance industry. He served the industry as president of the Hartford Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and Connecticut Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. In 1980 was the president of the National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors. He was also president of the Million Dollar Round Table Foundation in Chicago and chairman of the board of Life Underwriters Training Council in Washington D.C. He is a life trustee of the American College in Bryn Mawr, PA, which awarded him its highest honor, the Huebner Gold Medal in 2001. In 1983 he received the John Newton Russell Award, the highest honor bestowed to an individual by the insurance industry.
In 1966 he began writing insurance sales training programs and he and his wife Bette founded Vernon Publishing Services. The company rapidly became the leading provider of training material to the insurance industry and to this day many of the largest insurance companies all over the world use "Wolff authored" programs to train their associates.
In 1991 the International Insurance Society honored Wolff with its Founders Award Gold Medal for Excellence. The citation read in part "Tom Wolff created Capital and Financial Need Analysis which have revolutionized the way life insurance is sold all over the world."
A prolific salesman of life insurance Wolff was a member of the Million Dollar Round Table for over 50 years and qualified for its Top of the Table regularly. He lectured around the world and spoke in each of the 50 States on numerous occasions.
He was a member of First Lutheran Church of Rockville and served as Sunday School Superintendent and Church Council member for five years. Later he became a member of the United Congregational Church of Tolland and also belonged to the First Presbyterian Church in Delray Beach, Florida. He served five years on the Vernon Board of Education and 10 years on the Town of Vernon Council and was co-chair of the committee, which brought about consolidation of Rockville and Vernon. A longtime corporator and benefactor of the Eastern Connecticut Health Network, Wolff also was president of the Rockville Rotary Club. He was twice president of the Ellington Ridge Country Club where he was runner up to the club champion in 1962. He served as president of the Connecticut Seniors Golf Association in 2000. He helped start the Rockville Chamber of Commerce and was largely responsible for bringing both the Big Brothers and the YMCA to Vernon.
He moved to Florida in 1978 returning to Vernon to spend summers, and served as president of the Quail Ridge Country Club in Boynton Beach, Florida where he also chaired the Golf and Green Committee. He also served as chairman of the board of the Bethesda Hospital Foundation in Boynton Beach.
In 1990 Ernst & Young and Merrill Lynch recognized Tom Wolff as "New England Entrepreneur of the Year".
Wolff was a prolific writer. He authored six books and wrote a column on financial planning for a leading financial planning magazine for ten years. More recently he became a columnist for the Journal Inquirer. The theme for his popular series of articles was "How To Get The Most Out Of Life". The column has become a mainstay of the Journal Inquirer's Living Section.
Wolff was in love with his alma mater, the University of Connecticut where he served for many years on the Board of the University Foundation. He was elected Director Emeritus in 2004. He, his wife, and the firm he headed made many contributions to the university, including the Wolff-Zackin Natatorium and four endowed athletic scholarships. The Wolff's are proud that they have been basketball season ticket holders continuously for over 60 years. In 1986 they funded the Wolff Program for Entrepreneurship at the University of Connecticut's School of Business. Subsequently they endowed the Wolff Family Chair on Entrepreneurship. They also established the Thomas and Bette Wolff Family Park which houses the statue of the UConn "Husky". He was recognized by UConn as one of its distinguished alumni in 1981 and received the UConn Club's Outstanding Contribution Award in 1991. Wolff served on the School of
Business Board of Overseers and was inducted into the School's Hall of Fame. In 2003 he was the 26th person in UConn's history to be awarded the school's coveted "University Medal".
In 1997 the Visiting Nurse & Community Care, Inc. honored Wolff as the first recipient of its CARE Award for outstanding contributions to the community.
He spoke often of his love affair with Bette. He referred to her as his anchor. He said, "She has been my advisor, sounding board, critic, companion, friend and lover. They were married for 59 years. In addition to his wife Bette, Tom is survived by what he called the "greatest family on earth". Three children and their wives, Greg and Liz Wolff of Glastonbury, Gary and Eileen Wolff of Tolland and Debi and Jim Davis of Wethersfield. There are seven grandchildren, a granddaughter-in-law, and two great-grandsons, Keith, his wife Kris, and their sons, Jackson and Devin, James, Kyle, Jonathan and Kristina Wolff and Brittany and Shawn Davis.
The family wishes to thank Dr. & Mrs. Michael Sharon for the extraordinary loving care they provided Tom for the past 45 years.
On many occasions, both publicly and privately, Tom said, "I'm so grateful to God for the wonderful life he has given us. Most of all I thank him for Bette and the fantastic family he has blessed us with".
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 8, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. at the United Congregational Church, 45 Tolland Green, Tolland, CT 06084. Burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers all contributions can be made to the Thomas J. and Bette Wolff Family Charitable Foundation, Inc., 100 Tolland Turnpike, Suite 202, Manchester, CT 06042, which will donate all funds to the Tri-Town Shelter and North Central Hospice in Vernon and the University of Connecticut.