On June 23^rd this year the company that my father, Dick Schmidt, started in an upstairs room slightly larger than a closet turns 45 years old.  He grew his company on the four cornerstones of Honesty, Integrity, Hard work and Friendship, which would later become his mantra.  From the small room in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, he grew National Premium into an international company with 7 offices worldwide.  As big as National Premium grows, Dick Schmidt’s legacy will be that he took the time to learn every employee’s name, significant others’ names, as well as their children’s names, ages and sports they played.  Each year employees would look forward to receiving a handpicked, always humorous, birthday card from him.  The non-sales employees would also find a crisp $20 bill along with a hand-written message.  He treated everyone in the company as family, and those outside the company as friends, and took time to say hello and meet everyone.  He even knew the UPS driver’s name and often asked about his family.  In my 24 years of working with my dad, I got to see him as so much more than my father.  It wasn’t until his sudden death in September of 2010 that my family and I got to see him through the eyes of all those people he touched.  The four hours we had set for his wake took over five hours to get everyone through.  Each mourner had a personal story of something my father had said or done that they would never forget, and that we will never forget.