Michael Ferm helped transform the health insurance business

By Rebecca Jones, Special to the Rocky

Published January 9, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.

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Michael Ferm received the first Career Excellence Award in 1997.

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Michael Ferm's family kidded him that he could become friends with strangers over the course of an elevator ride or while standing in line at the grocery store. "He had an uncanny ability to make friends everywhere he went," said his son, Kevin Ferm, of Parker.

About 500 of those Mr. Ferm befriended turned out to say goodbye at his funeral at Ave Maria Catholic Church in Parker on Dec. 30. Mr. Ferm, who had been forced into early retirement nearly eight years ago because of heart disease, died Dec. 23. He was 66.

He was born April 25, 1942, to Elenore and Quinten Ferm in Racine, Wis. He attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison and St. Norbert College in Green Bay. He came to Colorado in the 1960s as a medic in the Army Reserve, stationed at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center.

"After his departure from the Army, he stayed because he was just in love with Denver and Colorado," his son said. "He joked that he would never go back to a Midwestern winter. His plans were actually to retire and live in Florida because he was tired of snow. But those plans were cut short."

Mr. Ferm entered the field of health insurance, where he would spend the next 35 years, working for Crown Life, Comprecare, PacificCare and Kaiser Permanente. By all accounts, he transformed the way those companies did business, and in 1997 he was named the first recipient of the Colorado Group Insurance Career Excellence Award.

"He was responsible for shaping the careers of many sales associates, and he really influenced the sales culture in many organizations," his son said. "He received that award for what he brought to all the organizations he was a part of."

"It's not very often one can reflect back on their career and say that their boss was not only their mentor, as Mike was to me, but he became my confidant, my motivator and one of my closest friends," said Mike Gallagher, whom Mr. Ferm hired as a sales manager at Kaiser Permanente 15 years ago. "Mike had tremendous leadership skills, was inspirational and a competitive fighter."

"He had all these 'Ferm-isms,' " said his wife, Carolyn. "Like, 'If you like the results, keep doing what you're doing; but if you don't, you must change.' He was a very good speaker, and he had this motivational talk he would do called 'Be the Best You Can Be.' He gave that talk to lots of different groups of people."

Besides sales, Mr. Ferm's other two great passions were his family and golf. He started playing golf as a 9-year-old and was a member at The Pinery Country Club in Parker for 34 years. He had two holes-in-one to his credit, his son said.

"He had a passion for competing, and he loved the camaraderie with people on the golf course," Kevin Ferm said.

Mr. Ferm also was active with Special Olympics, serving on the planning and steering committee for 24 years.

Even as Mr. Ferm's health gradually failed, and he knew he wouldn't be able to receive the heart transplant that he needed to live, he never lost his sunny disposition.

"He was an extremely positive person, and he focused very much on maintaining a positive attitude well into his illness," Gallagher said. "He wanted to make good whatever time he had left."

In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Ferm is survived by two daughters, Michelle Gruhn, of Grinnell, Iowa, and Becky Gross, of Des Moines, Iowa; four sisters, Nora Ferm and Sue Malec, both of Milwaukee, Martha Ferm, of Aurora, and Cathleen Neumann, of Janesville, Wis.; and three grandchildren.

Contributions in his honor may be made to the Colorado Special Olympics Golf Tournament or to the American Diabetes Association.

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