Former insurance, media CEO George Womble Jr. dies

George M. Womble Jr., the former chairman and CEO of a Raleigh insurance and media company that once employed 1,600 workers, died Sunday of complications arising from throat cancer.

Womble, 81 -- son of the owner of a wholesale grocery business in Raleigh that went belly up during the Great Depression -- worked his way up the ranks to head the Durham Corp., a publicly-traded Raleigh company whose principal business, Durham Life Insurance Co., sold and underwrote life, health and disability insurance. A subsidiary, Durham Life Broadcasting Inc., owned Raleigh TV station WPTF -- which at the time was the local NBC affiliate -- as well as Triangle radio stations WPTF-AM and WQDR-FM 94.7 and two Laurinburg radio stations.

Durham Corp., which was founded in Durham in 1906 but moved to Raleigh the following decade, "reached its apex" under Womble's leadership, said William Friday, president emeritus of the UNC system and a former member of Durham Corp.'s board.

At the same time, "his life, in its own way, defines the term public service," Friday said. "I don't know of a time when George was asked to take on a task that he said no."

Womble's extensive list of civic activities included: president of the United Way of Wake County; president of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce; treasurer of North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry; and a member of the board of trustees of Peace College. He received the Raleigh chamber's A.E. Finley Distinguished Service Award in 1990.

Womble, who received a law degree from Wake Forest University, briefly worked in private practice in Elizabeth City before being named associate general counsel of Durham Life Insurance in 1950. He remained with the company until he retired 41 years later, moving up to vice president and general counsel, executive vice president, president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board.

He was chairman when the company fended off a hostile takeover in 1990, following several years of reduced earnings. But the next year it agreed to merge with Kentucky-based Capital Holding Corp. in a deal that valued Durham Corp. at about $250 million. At the time the company had more than 800 agents in 12 states and had posted $254.9 million in revenue in 1990.

"Many long-term shareholders and most employees are indeed sad and distressed...that Durham Corp. will no longer be," Womble stated at the close of the company's final shareholders meeting. "Many of you probably do not feel this is a time of celebration."

The company sold off its broadcasting operations before the merger. Durham Corp. also had owned State Capital Insurance Co., a property and casualty insurer, but sold that business in 1989.

Despite his hefty business and civic responsibilities, Womble always had time for family, according to one of his sons, attorney Robert B. Womble.

"It was a different time then," Robert Womble said. "He was always home at 5:30 and ate dinner at 6."

The late Womble was an avid golfer and an accomplished pool and card player. He also loved to regale his family with stories from his youth -- and didn't bother with sticking to the facts.

He talked, for example, about slogging miles through the snow to get to school. But his children eventually found out that he grew up less than two blocks from that school, Raleigh's Fred A. Olds School.

Robert Womble said his dad was such a planner that his brother always called him "the ultimate CEO."

Nor did George Womble stop planning after he retired. For instance, he wrote the paid obituary that appeared in The News & Observer this week.

George Womble is survived by: his wife of 62 years, Phyllis Cowdery Womble; son, George M. Womble III, and wife, Debbie, of Raleigh; son, Robert B. Womble and wife, Lynn, of Raleigh; daughter, Elizabeth W. Kodrzycki and husband, Bob, of Summerville, S.C.; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.