Services For Republic Group CEO Bruce Milligan

NU Online News Service, Sept. 3, 11:34 a.m.EDT?Funeral services will be held tomorrow for BruceRobert Milligan, president and chief executive officer atDallas-based Republic Group of Insurance Companies, who diedSaturday. He was 47.

Mr. Milligan's death came a day after the sale of his company toan acquisition group he was part of. The company's new CEO said thecause of death appeared related to a heart ailment, but wasunexpected.

A veteran of the insurance industry, he had been with theRepublic Group for the past 15 years. He first joined the companyas the chief financial officer and was named its chief executiveeight years ago.

In addition to his position at the Republic Group, Mr. Milliganwas also a member of several boards at the time of his death,including the Alliance of American Insurers, Dallas National Bank,the Children's Education Fund of Dallas, and the Insurance Councilof Texas. He also served as president of the Association of Fireand Casualty Companies in Texas and as president of the IndependentLloyds of Texas.

"All of us who had the privilege of working with Bruce Milliganover the past 15 years mourn his unexpected passing and send ourdeepest condolences to his family," said Martin Cummings, chieffinancial officer at the Republic Group.

Mr. Milligan's passing came just one day after the formalcompletion of the company's purchase by an American investor groupfor $127 million from Winterthur of Zurich, Switzerland.

The Republic Group--a medium-sized provider of property and autoinsurance for individuals and commercial insurance for businessesin Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma--had been owned byWinterthur since 1982. The insurer wrote gross written premiumsworth $465 million last year.

Mr. Milligan was a member of the U.S. buyout group, led by WandPartners Inc., a New York-based private equity investment group,and was expected to continue his role as Republic's CEO andreestablish the insurer as an independent enterprise.

"Bruce Milligan was very pleased and happy after the deal wascompleted--he and I had been planing this transaction for months.Republic has been a good company, but he was fond of saying we aregoing to build a great company within two years," said BruceSchnitzer, chairman at Wand Partners, who will now serve asRepublic's CEO during a transition period.

"He was very young and in good shape, but it appears to beheart-related," Mr. Schnitzer said. "He had had a bit of history ofheart issues back in his 30s. But he had a completely clean bill ofhealth just a few months ago. It's one of those things that happenin life when you think things are going well--he's been in goodhealth for years and was on a real high."

"This was a guy who was loved and admired throughout theindustry, and especially in the Texas community," Mr. Schnitzeradded. "We know our profound sense of loss is shared by many otherswho knew and loved Bruce."

He is survived by his wife Jan and their sons Joe and Mike Thefuneral is scheduled for 2 p.m. tomorrow at the Holland ParkPresbyterian Church in Dallas.