Clement, William A., 1912-2001

William A. Clement (1912-2001) was an executive of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company and a business and civic leader in Durham, N.C. Clement was married to Josephine Dobbs Clement and had six children.

From the description of William A. Clement papers, 1930-1998. WorldCat record id: 35268174

William A. Clement was born on 6 May 1912 in Charleston, S.C., the son of Arthur John and Sadie Jones Clement, both of whom were employed by North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. William A. Clement worked part-time as an agent for North Carolina Mutual, beginning in 1928, while he was a student at the Avery Institute in Charleston.

William A. Clement graduated from Talladega College, Talladega, Ala., in 1934, with a B.A. degree in mathematics. He joined the staff of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1934, working first as an agent in the Memphis district; then as assistant manager, Charleston district, 1935-1940, then as agency supervisor, 1940-1944, and regional director, 1944-1946, in the regional office in Atlanta. In 1946, Clement moved to Durham, N.C., where he served as assistant to the agency director, 1946-1949; assistant agency director, 1949-1953; associate agency director, 1953-1961; agency director, 1961-1962; vice-president, 1962-1966; vice-president in charge of field operations, 1966; agency vice-president, 1967-1969; senior vice-president, 1969-1976; and executive vice-president, 1976-1978.

Clement became a chartered life underwriter in 1953 and was active in numerous life insurance associations, including serving on the boards of directors of the American College of Life Underwriters (later American College), the Life Insurance Agency Management Association (LIAMA), and the Life Insurance Marketing Research Association (LIMRA), and as president and secretary of the National Insurance Association (NIA).

After his retirement from North Carolina Mutual, Clement formed William A. Clement and Associates, which provided financial management and marketing services with particular focus on minority clients. Clement also served as president of the Security Investment Company of Durham, N.C., a private investment association with a portfolio of real estate and securities holdings.

Clement was a member of the board of directors, executive committee, and finance committee of North Carolina Mutual; and on the boards of directors of the Durham branch of Wachovia Bank and Trust Company, Durham County General Hospital, board of trustees of the Kate B. Reynolds Health Care Trust, and the board of trustees of North Carolina Central University. He was chair of the North Carolina Central Board of Trustees from 1975 to 1981.

Clement was also active in civic affairs, serving as chair of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority; president of the Durham District and vice chair of the Occoneechee Council of the Boys Scouts of America; president of the United Fund of Durham and Durham County; treasurer of Penn Community Services of South Carolina; president of the Talladega College Alumni Association; chair of the committee on education of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People; and Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Prince Hall Masons Grand Lodge of North Carolina. He served as a trustee or director of the Durham Chamber of Commerce, Durham Development Corporation, White Rock Baptist Church, Durham Academy, the Madeira School, and the Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center. Clement was a member of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, the Durham Rotary Club, the Governor's Business Council on Arts and the Humanities, the Mayor's Advisory Board for the Revitalization of Downtown Durham, the Foundation for Better Health Care of Durham, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity.

For his many services, Clement was awarded the Silver Beaver by the Boy Scouts, 1966; the Crosthwaite Award of the Chicago Insurance Association, 1977; the father of the year award from the Durham Merchants Association, 1968; and an honorary doctorate from North Carolina Central University, 1981, He and Josephine Clement were honorees at the Durham NAACP Freedom Fund dinner in 1980.

Clement married Frances Lawson of Sumter, S.C., on 25 September 1935 and had one daughter Alexine, born 10 June 1936. Frances Lawson Clement died of cancer on 14 December 1940. On 24 December 1941, Clement married Josephine Dobbs, daughter of John Wesley Dobbs of Atlanta, Ga. They had five children: William A., born 22 January 1943; Wesley Dobbs, born 18 April 1946; Arthur John, born 31 December 1948; Kathleen Ophelia, born 3 January 1957; and Josephine Millicent (Jody).

From the guide to the William A. Clement Papers, 1930-1998, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)