Longtime local insurance agent known to many, retires

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers STEPPING DOWN- Retired State Farm agent Don Liebman holds a treasured 1978 World Series monkey from his office display. The veteran insurance agent is retiring after 36 years in the business. Don Liebman spent 36 years taking care of the needs of people throughout the Conejo Valley. On Feb. 28, the Westlake Village resident retired so he could focus more on himself and his family.

A State Farm insurance agent with an Oak Park office and staff of nine, Liebman had a client list that at one time included 3,000 local families and 600 businesses. His was one of the largest agencies in the country with the highest sales, and he handled every insurance need including business, life, homeowner and auto.

"Don achieved State Farm's highest accomplishment for product 34 of his 36 years with the company," said Jason Sliwoski, a State Farm agent who Liebman took on as a partner and who is now running the Oak Park office. "That's unprecedented in California."

Not bad for someone who State Farm did not want to hire because he didn't finish college. Liebman was one semester away from graduating with a mathematics degree from Cal State Northridge when his mother passed away. He left school to help his father run a food service industry.

"Convincing State Farm to hire me was the toughest sell I ever had," said Liebman, 64. "They didn't want to hire me without a college degree. My boss said I was a quitter and wouldn't last."

But Liebman proved otherwise. He came to know many of his clients beyond the paperwork and is a familiar face in the community. An active community volunteer, Liebman has coached sports, served as a guest speaker at school functions, is the longest standing member of the AgouraOak Park Regional Chamber of Commerce and was made honorary sheriff of Agoura in 1985.

"I appreciate his professionalism. He is a very nice man and is good at what he does," said Nick Haddad, of Agoura Hills, whose family has held personal and business policies with Liebman for more than 18 years.

A California native, Liebman grew up in a family that struggled financially. He recalls his family cars being repossessed, homes taken back by the bank and utilities being turned off.

"I didn't want that for my own family," Liebman said. "I have a tremendous fear of failure."

He saw insurance as providing security.

"It was a good income that would provide increasing rewards with decreasing effort," Liebman said.

He thought that insurance would mean that he would work hard the first five years building a list of clients, then coast along on the annual policy renewals that he expected would come.

"I worked harder after those first five years creating that network of policyholders and centers of influence," Liebman said. "I was available 100 percent of the time. Claims happen at all hours, not just nine to five."

Liebman has been battling Parkinson's disease but said he has the disease under control and is able to play golf, softball and work out in the gym.

And he hasn't left the business entirely. He's consulting for Sliwoski; for Steve Smith, a Westlake Village State Farm agent; and for other small businesses. Clients continue to call Liebman for advice, which he welcomes.

"I still enjoy dealing with clients," Liebman said. "I've got a 30-year relationship with many of them."

Liebman opened his first State Farm office on Valentine's Day in 1971 in the Whizin's Center on Roadside Drive in Agoura. Constant fights and shootings outside a bar in the center forced Liebman to relocate to Canwood Drive.

"This was the wild west at the time," Liebman said.

In 1979 Liebman moved the office to the Ralphs shopping center on Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Kanan Road, where he remained until 1999 when he reopened in the current office on Lindero Canyon and Kanan roads in Oak Park.

"I moved to Agoura at a time of explosive growth," Liebman said. "As new tracts opened in Agoura, Oak Park and Westlake, every time someone moved to town I contacted them."

He also created a network through his banker, lawyer, physician, dentist and cleaner. Wordofmouth helped tremendously, Liebman said.

In retirement Liebman will provide support to other Parkinson's patients, offering advice and participating in fundraising efforts. He also plans to enjoy spending time with his wife, Mary, and his children and grandchildren. One of his children, Lauren Kellenberger, lives in Oak Park with her husband, Scott, and three sons, Brett, Kyle and Eric.

"I also want to read one book a week," Liebman said. "Who knows? Maybe I'll go back and get my college degree."