Barbara and Earl were both originally from Cleveland.
After serving as a marine in the Korean War, Earl earned his degree in history and joined Prudential Insurance.
However, at mid-career, he found his advancement limited and Barbara encouraged him to seek opportunities in California, where she had always wanted to live.
He found a business card in his Rolodex for a life insurance company in Palo Alto, gave them a call and they asked him to “Come out West!”. So he packed up the VW bug, said goodbye to his wife and kids and started his journey to California.
After doing well for 2-3 months, he told Barbara to sell the house, and prepare for the move to California. Barbara and the kids joined Earl in Palo Alto within a year of his initial trip.
Earl established himself and thrived, earning “Salesman of the Month”, in multiple, consecutive months (Earl attributes this to his focused Midwest/East Coast work ethic). This gave him the confidence to strike out on his own, and he established Dworkin Insurance Services.
After the kids were settled in their new schools, Earl encouraged Barbara to get her insurance license and join him. She did and together they built their company with the focus on developing a brokerage agency to offer the best health insurance policy to meet their clients' needs. Barbara was very entrepreneurial and established key relationships that help grow the business year after year.
Barbara died at age 50 of cancer in January 1990. Earl continued with Dworkin Insurance Services until two weeks before his passing at the age of 88, in 2021.
Today, Stefanie and James continue the legacy their parents started.