Long-time insurance employee to retire from McGowan

Mount Vernon McGowan insurance account manager Julie Streitmatter stands with Andy Weintraut as the two enjoy their final days together in the Mount Vernon office as she will retire on January 30. Photo supplied

By Dave Pearce

On Friday, January 30, Julie Streitmatter will make her final trek as an employee to McGowan (formerly Schultheis) Insurance in Mount Vernon. The Mount Vernon and former New Harmony resident has decided it is time to retire.

Streitmatter came to the Mount Vernon Schultheis office six years ago and quickly became a favorite of the customers. With roots in insurance and in Christianity, she blended the love and the helpfulness not only into a way of life but also into a career habit.

“Everyone loves Julie,” Mount Vernon McGowan office manager Andy Weintraut said when asked about her impending retirement. “She came here from an insurance office in Fort Branch (Rosenmeyer Agency) and immediately customers knew they had someone who could understand their needs and would help them. Julie has built a very loyal clientele as a Personal Lines, and Farm Lines Account Manager for McGowan over the past six years.”

The Middletown, Ohio native made her way to the area via marriage and family. She has spent 27 years in an insurance career, the final six in Mount Vernon. The McGowan Company now owns the Fort Branch office and the Mount Vernon facility so it was almost like she never left her friends in Fort Branch. She works closely with them still.

“I met my husband at Cedarville College and he was from Rensselaer, Ind.,” she explained. “So when we got married, we moved up there and raised cattle and pigs and sheep. Then he passed away, and my daughter had a job here. So I moved down to be close to Shelley.”

She has the daughter here, a daughter in Georgia, a son and grandkids in Cincinnati, and lost her oldest son when he was 20. She also has a brother in Rhode Island. The move to the area was a change for her but eventually became an advantageous move for Weintraut and the Mount Vernon office and customers.

“When we moved from New Harmony to Mount Vernon, I wanted someplace closer than Fort Branch,” Streitmatter explained. “My plans right now are to stay in Mount Vernon. I do have my mother (living alone in her 90s) and a lot of family in the Cincinnati area. We may have to move back that way to help care for people. But I like the small towns and I don’t like the traffic up there. But there are smaller towns around Cincinnati. We will see where the Lord leads.”

Streitmatter said coming to Mount Vernon was an easy decision because she did like the small town feel and she has grown to love the community and its people. Mount Vernon is similar in size to Rensselaer.

“The office here is a little smaller, with just me and Andy but I like that, too,” she said. “I like being able to work with people and help people. But it has gotten close to retirement time.”

Her immediate plans call for spending more time with her grandchildren in Cincinnati and more time helping take care of her mother and her sister. She also wants to find more time to spend with her church, Faithway Baptist Church in Evansville.

In the meantime, a new “Julie” is already in place in the office. A Mount Vernon native and Mount Vernon High School graduate has moved over to the McGowan office. Mahala Tinsley will now be answering calls to the 812-446-0609 local extension.

There will be a reception celebrating Streitmatter’s retirement on January 30 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the McGowan office located at 220 E. Fourth Street in Mount Vernon. She and Weintraut invite family and friends of Julie and the office to take a moment to stop at the office to wish her well in the next chapter of her life.