On August 4, 2002, the Brown & Brown family lost a good and dear friend and long-time senior executive, Dan L. Williamson. Dan, his wife Margo, and son Mark were killed when Dan’s private plane developed engine trouble and crashed in southwestern Michigan during a flight from Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Toledo, Ohio.

Born in Lake City, Florida, Dan was an officer with the Flagship Banks of Florida for many years, lastly as President of the Flagship First National Bank in Ormond Beach, Florida, before joining Brown & Brown in 1984. From 1984 until 1993, he headed the Company’s Ft. Myers, Florida office. In 1993, he moved to Tampa to head that office and to oversee a number of the Company’s Florida West Coast operations. In 1998, Dan took the Midwest assignment and moved to Toledo, Ohio to head the office located there, and subsequently, until 2001, served as the Regional Executive Vice President responsible for Brown & Brown’s expanding Midwest operations. In addition to his many insurance industry affiliations, Dan was a long-time Rotarian, serving in the Rotary Clubs of the various cities where he resided.

Speaking for all of Dan’s many friends, Hyatt Brown said it best: “We are all deeply saddened by this loss. I had the great pleasure of working closely with Dan for almost 20 years, and flew with him several times; he was just as competent a pilot as he was a respected insurance industry executive. He will be missed.”