CUNDY, INC.
LAUDERDALE BY THE SEA, FLORIDA

Insurance executive Thomas Cundy, who lived a real rags-to-riches story, dies at 80 Insurance executive Thomas Cundy, namesake of the Fort Lauderdale-based Cundy Inc., one of the leading privately held employee benefit consulting firms, was born poor, too, during the Depression. So poor, in fact, he never slept in a real bed until he earned a tennis scholarship and enrolled at Florida State University. "When it comes to this company, I gave it my own name because its values and purpose grew from my own life, my own beliefs," Cundy said in a video posted on his company's website. "I grew up on the poor side of the tracks, picking up coal on train yards to keep our stove burning. That's how I learned every family needs a safety net. Success comes only from hard work and catering to the needs of others. Competitive athletics taught me the value of discipline and training. To be competitive you've got to find a way to be better every day." As such, Cundy, who died Sunday at age 80 of congestive heart failure at his Miami Beach home, was driven his entire life. "My dad was the consummate Triple A personality � insomniac, 5 a.m. breakfasts, go-all-the-day-and-night. He just loved being with people and loved working," said son David Cundy, 52, who is now president of Cundy Inc, which his father founded in 1958. "Doing what you say you are going to do, he was always big about showing up, he was always faithful to the mission," David Cundy said. In 2000, Cundy, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War who achieved the rank of captain while serving in the reserves, was honored as a recipient of the Horatio Alger Award for his business acumen and philanthropy. The ceremony was held at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Television personality Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's sidekick on The Tonight Show, paid tribute to Cundy at the event, marveling at his business savvy. At the time, Cundy Inc. represented the insurance needs of hundreds of companies, including Fortune 500 firms like Anheuser-Busch, Ford, American Express and Ryder. "All this from a young man who didn't have a bed to sleep on until he went to college," the late McMahon said. "In the insurance industry some people work all of their livcs and finally hit the $1 million mark. Cundy did it in the first 10 months he was in business." The TV star was referring to Cundy's post-military gig at Prudential, a job that immediately preceded the founding of his own company, which today has 12 full-time employees, along with senior consultants and independent sales people. Friend Bill Allen, a veteran banker in Miami who led Southeast Bank, InterContinental Bank and Northern Trust Bank of Florida, among others, remembers Cundy's first steps into the insurance industry. The two served together in the Marine Corps and have been close friends for decades. "I followed his progress," Allen said. "I remember a time going up and down Las Olas in an old beat-up car with life insurance folders in the back seat going from business to business, cold-calling. He started with nothing," Allen said. "He was a Damon Runyon guy. He lit up the room when he came in. He never met a stranger. He was the best salesman I ever met. The high priest of sales. And his charitable acts were legendary." And he was a man about town. Son Thomas Cundy, Jr. remembers when Joe's Stone Crab on South Beach, one of his dad's favorite spots, named a dish for him on the menu: TC's Pompano, after the fish. Later in life, Cundy exercised his sharp mind by devouring books on World War II. His heart started to give out, but not his mind, David Cundy said. Cundy is survived by his wife Jane, sons Thomas Jr., David and John "Jay" along with six grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Thomas University, 16401 NW 37th Ave., Miami Gardens. Thomas C. Cundy isn�t a man who is easily overwhelmed. On Friday, Troy Mayor Jimmy Lunsford managed to do just that, presenting the chairman and CEO of Cundy Inc. with a key to the city in recognition of his role in bringing a First Serve Inc. chapter to Troy. "I can�t believe it, Mayor," Cundy while visiting in the mayor�s private office. "I�m overwhelmed." Cundy, a former competitive college tennis player and board member of First Serve Inc., has been a long-time board member of the national non-profit organization founded by Arthur Ashe. First Serve is a life skills curriculum that uses tennis to empower underserved youth with the skills, values and experience they need to be responsible and productive citizens. First Serve added eight chapters to its existing 16 chapter network in June, including the Troy chapter. "This is a perfect format because you have a university involved,� Cundy said. �What was so great is you had the combination of the mayor and the city (support), the chancellor and the university, and the varsity tennis coach and the athletic director." All those individuals, working together with a shared mission of providing the First Serve experience to young people in Troy, created opportunities that other communities may not be able to offer. And, speaking to Cundy, who lobbied for the program in rural Troy, he added, �to have someone of your stature support it, well, that means so much more.� First Serve typically is located in larger communities and serves inner-city children. Cundy, who is a longtime friend of Troy Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins and an advocate of the Troy program, lobbied for the selection of Troy as a site for a new chapter. Thomas Cundy to Receive 2006 ITA Achievement Award SKILLMAN, N.J. � Thomas Cundy (Florida State University '55), Chairman and CEO of CUNDY, Inc., is the winner of the 2006 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Achievement (ITA) Award presented by Tennis Week magazine and Rolex Watch, U.S.A. Cundy will be honored in New York next month during Tennis Week magazine's U.S. Open party. Over the past 50 years, Cundy has built one of the largest privately held employee benefit consulting firms in the United States. Among CUNDY, Inc.'s clients are Anheuser-Busch, Ford Motor Company, Huizenga Holdings, Inc., McDonald's and Viacom/CBS. He has been a member of the insurance industry's Million Dollar Round Table for 48 consecutive years.