William Penn, 1964 (47. évfolyam, 5-21. szám)
1964-07-15 / 14. szám
1 PAGE 4 William Penn July 15, 1964 Official Organ of the William Penn Fraternal Association OFFICE OF PUBLICATION RAPID PRINTING COMPANY 7907 West Jefferson Ave. Detroit 17, Michigan PUBLISHED SEMIMONTHLY BY THE William Penn Fraternal Association Managing Editor: ALBERT J. STELKOVICS Editor’s Office: 436 FOURTH AVENUE PITTSBURGH, PA. 15219 Telephone Area Code 412 — 261-3454 All articles and changes of address should be sent to the WILLIAM PENN FRATERNAL ASSOCIATION 436 Fourth Avenue Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: United States and Canada ........................................ $1.00 a year Foreign Countries ................................................... $1.50 a year SECOND CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT DETROIT, MICHIGAN Is Your Beneficiary Properly Designated? Our By-Laws provide that each member shall designate a beneficiary or beneficiaries to whom the proceeds of the policy will be payable upon death of the member. Any person or legal entity may be designated beneficiary and the insured member has the right at all times to redesignate his beneficiary in accordance with the Association’s rules. Upon death of the member, the Association is obligated to pay the proceeds of the certificate to the designated benificiary. Too often, however, when processing a claim, we find that the person or persons designated as beneficiaries have long predeceased the member. This then can cause undue delay in processing the claim, and in many instances becomes a costly matter for the family because our By-Laws provide that if none of the designated beneficiaries survives the member then the death benefit shall be paid to the personal representative of the deceased member. This means that either an Administrator or Executor must be appointed by the courts of competent jurisdiction to whom the benefits will then be paid. This can become costly, depending on the locality in which this appointment is made. Oftentimes members of the family are of the belief that they will automatically receive the proceeds of the policy if the designated beneficiaries have predeceased the member, but this is not the case. Our By-Laws provide otherwise and it would be well for all our members to remember this. We strongly urge all members to review the beneficiary designation on their certificates and, if these are not up to date, a change of beneficiary should be requested immediately. The proper procedure for redesignating a beneficiary is as follows. A Change of Beneficiary application must be requested, from your local branch manager. This form should be completed, signed by the member, and his signature is to be witnessesd by two disinterested persons. The Change of Beneficiary application, together with the membership certificate, must then be turned over to the branch manager who will forward same to the Home Office for proper endorsement. At no time should the member endorse a Change of Beneficiary on the certificate, because this will not be recognized. The endorsement must he entered by the Home Office and signed by an officer of the Association. The Association now, under its By-Laws, permits the designation of Principal and Contingent beneficiaries. The purpose of this provision is to make certain that the proceeds of the policy, upon the death of the member, will be paid to the person or persons selected by the member, for example, a member may designate his wife as principle beneficiary and children as contingent beneficiaries. If the wife should predecease the member, the benefits will automatically be paid to the children without need for appointment of Administrator or Executor. If children are designated and one or more children should predecease the member, the benefit will be paid to the surviving designated children in equal amounts. We again urge all members to review their beneficiary designations to see that they are in order, and, if not, immediate steps should be taken to correct the matter. If only one beneficiary is designated and the member desires to add contingent beneficiaries, a Change of Beneficiary form must be executed, designating thereon the principal and contingent beneficiaries. In your own interest, and particularly in the interest of your survivors, please check on your beneficiary designation. — ALBERT J. STELKOVICS Secretary FRANK J. CHER RETIRES Frank J. Cher, veteran employee of the William Penn Fraternal Association, well-known fraternalist, and a leader among the Hungarian Americans, retired on June 30, 1964 after twentyeight years service with the Association, the last nine of them spent at the William Penn Home Office. The fraternal insurance career of Mr. Cher may be divided into two parts: He came to the parent Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Association February 1, 1936 as a field man; he continued working in that category until July 1, 1955 when he accepted new duties at the Home Office. As a field man Mr. Cher’s various positions took him to the concentrated areas of our membership in the Eastern United States, such places as Buffalo, N. Y., New York City, Trenton, N. J., Bethlehem, Pa., etc., where his efforts succeeded in building up new interest in our society and increased membership. He held such field titles as District Organizer, Division Manager and Field Supervisor. He was Delegate to and Secretary of the 1939 National Verhovay Convention. At the request of the Board of Directors, Mr. Cher on July 1, 1955 left the Field Force to accept a new position at the Home Office, that of Assistant Secretary and Office Manager. He continued in this dual function until five years ago when the Board of Directors appointed him Administrator of the new Fraternal Affairs Department, in which capacity he served until his retirement last month. As Fraternal Affairs Administrator he headed for several years the Annual National William Penn Bowling Tournament-Fellowship Days, through the branches he expanded the Children’s Christmas Parties, organized dancing groups of boys and girls, encouraged many other fraternal and social activities, and was Assistant Editor of the Hungarian language WILLIAM PENN. It follows that for his many successes Frank J. Cher must have received special honors from the Association, and indeed he did. He proudly possesses the Association’s highest honor and recognition, which is the Illustrious Citation and Gold Emblem. We wish our long-time associate much happiness in his retirement, and may he and his devoted wife spend many more years in the pursuit of those things dearest to them. ON AUGUST 21, 1858 the famous debates between Abraham Lincoln and Judge Stephen A. Douglas began. Both were at that time rival candidates for the office of Senator from Illinois. Doug las had twice been a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency, and was one of the best known public men in the United States. Abraham Lincoln had a reputation as an eloquent spokesman for the new Republican party, but had never held a position of prominence. The Lincoln-Douglas debates, held in seven small towns in Illinois, were reported in great detail in the nation’s press. Lincoln forced Douglas to answer questions on slavery which meant either breaking with the Democratic Party in the South or offending his constituents in Illinois. Judge Douglas preferred risking a break with the South. He kept his seat in the Senate, defeating Lincoln in that contest, but Lincoln’s reputation had grown so much as a result of the debates that two years later the Republicans nominated him for President. JOIN AND SERVE YOUR RED CROSS TODAY FRANK J. CHER
