ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, October 5, 1993                   TAG: 9310050128
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DEPOSED INSURANCE CHIEF AN AGENT AGAIN

Joseph E. Stephenson, who resigned in June under pressure as president of Shenandoah Life Insurance Co., will be a consultant during the search for his successor.

The company said Monday that Stephenson will become a general agent for the company in Memphis, Tenn., starting Jan. 1.

Chairman Clifford A. Cutchins III said Stephenson was one of the company's top general agents in Memphis before moving to Roanoke in 1984.

He said the company is pleased to have Stephenson's "expertise in the insurance industry available to us."

Stephenson's "feel for the competitive environment in which life insurance companies operate and his contacts throughout the industry will be important assets for Shenandoah Life as we face the challenges and opportunities of the 1990s," he said.

Stephenson resigned at a board meeting June 18 after having been president since 1989. He was replaced on an interim basis by William R. Battle, a board member who had been president from 1972 to 1989.

Stephenson's resignation came five weeks after board members received a nine-page letter from its General Agents Association criticizing him for mismanagement and arbitrary decision making.

It also followed the company's $1.7 million loss in 1992. The loss resulted in downgrading of the company from A+ to A by the A.M. Best rating service.

The board has formed a committee to find a permanent president. 


 by CNB