Oklahoma: A Story Through Her People

AMERICAN FIDELITY ASSURANCE COMPANY
This willingness to do whatever was needed
to help his customers earned C. W. a reputation
in the industry. By the 1930s, he had become
one of the top producers for North American
Accident and Health Insurance Company.
C. W.’s son, C. B., joined the company in
the 1950s and began to work alongside his
father. Leadership changes and other factors,
coupled with the entrepreneurial vision
that C. B. brought to the picture, led to the
opportunity for father and son to acquire their
block of business and form their own company.
They launched American Fidelity Assurance
Company in 1960.
Above: Left to right, C. W., Bill and
C. B. Cameron.
Right: Signing incorporation papers.
Personal experience in knowing just how
important it is to be able to work and support
a family laid the foundation on which
American Fidelity Assurance Company (AFA)
was built.
The company’s founder, C. W. Cameron,
was just a teenager when he left school to
help provide for his parents and six siblings.
This time in C. W.’s life showed firsthand
the need for families to protect their income.
When his father was injured and could
no longer work, C. W. began to appreciate
the concept that he later built his career on,
“The most important asset any man has is the
ability to work and earn a living.”
C. W. put that notion to work early in
his career. He became a pioneer in offering
voluntary supplemental insurance to laborers
and then to teachers. During his early years
in rural Oklahoma, he would sometimes
make sales calls with an associate. Knowing
that most potential customers could not
take time away from their work in the fields,
C. W. demonstrated just how hard he was
willing to work to sell a policy by taking the
farmer’s place working in the cotton fields
as his partner explained the importance of
insurance to the farmer.
C. B. focused much of his attention on the
insurance business while C. W. explored his
interests in real estate. C. B. led the company in
attracting association endorsements, launching
annuity sales and then expanding throughout
the nation, all while raising a family.
But at the height of their personal and professional
success, a 1977 family ski trip brought
tragedy to the family. C. B., his wife, their two
children and two friends were flying home
when their plane crashed into a mountainside.
C. B. died in the accident while other family
members and friends were severely injured.
Following C. B.’s death, the American Fidelity
family rallied to keep the company moving
forward. William E. Durrett was named president
of AFA. John Rex, CFO and later president,
along with Durrett and others in the
company, stepped in to fill the gaps left by
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