At Home With... Morrie Sanderson

Morrie Sanderson isn’t afraid to step out of his comfort zone.

“That’s what makes life so interesting and adventurous,” says the semi-retired Fort Wayne insurance executive.

At 73 years young, Sanderson still goes to work every day at the Hylant Group where he serves as chairman. Twelve years ago, he sold his longtime insurance company, O’Brien & Sanderson, to Hylant and thought he’d be lucky to stay on board for a couple of years.

“It’s been a wonderful connection,” smiles Sanderson. “Usually when the big fish buys the little fish, they’re younger and richer and smarter and all of that. They don’t give a lot of credit to the seller. But these guys have been great.”

Sanderson started working for his father’s insurance company in 1960 after graduating from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

“I had other job offers, but nothing else felt quite right,” explains Sanderson. “I wanted to come back home. That was more than 50 years ago and I’m still here.”

Sanderson has a passion for the Summit City. He was born downtown at Saint Joseph Hospital in 1938.

“My grandfather was a physician and he delivered me,” laughs Sanderson. “Back then, he got paid with whatever people could spare. Sometimes he was paid with money, sometimes he was paid with chickens!”

Sanderson grew up in a big house at the corner of Hanna Street and Washington Boulevard. It was definitely a family affair.

“My great aunt lived on the third floor and my aunt and uncle and grandmother were on the second floor,” he says. “We were all there together.”

Family was as important to Sanderson then as it is today. The shelves in his office at Hylant Group are adorned with pictures of his three children (two sons and one daughter) and their spouses and his six granddaughters.

“The score right now is granddaughters: six, grandsons: zero,” laughs Sanderson. “I love them all.”

The girls range in age from two to 15. This is where that comfort zone policy comes into play. One of Sanderson’s latest adventures is teaching the 15-year-old to drive.

“I’ve been taking her out to different parking lots and letting her practice with my car,” he laughs. 

One of Sanderson’s sons lives in Fort Wayne, the other lives in Colorado and his daughter resides in a suburb of Toledo.

During his most recent trip to Colorado, Sanderson was talked into taking a big step out of his comfort zone.

“I went to a Kid Rock concert with my girlfriend, my son and his wife,” he grins. “My daughter-in-law is a big fan, so we went and ended up having a great time.” 

Sanderson thoroughly enjoys traveling to see his family, but he also has a rather impressive list of  adventures from all over the world. He’s spent a lot of time in the Caribbean enjoying his longtime passion of cruising by sailboat. He’s also flown across the pond on numerous occasions.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to travel extensively in Europe,” he explains. “But the two stand-out trips were to Africa and Egypt.”

Sanderson’s trip to Africa in the 1970s was anything but a typical safari.

“I had a friend who lived and worked in Nairobi, Kenya, and he kept insisting I come to visit,” recalls Sanderson. “The first week I was there, he arranged for a driver to take me around in a Land Rover. The second week, I was the driver and on my own.”

Sanderson took advantage of the freedom and ended up having some unbelievably close encounters with nature.

“They don’t exactly have hotels over there, so I often stayed in tents,” he explains. “I’ll never forget the night I woke up to find a water buffalo next to my tent. His horn had become tangled in the canvas, so he wasn’t very happy.”

His trip to Egypt was also exceptional. He says he would love to go back for another visit.

“It’s fascinating,” he smiles. “Everything is so precise. There I was in one of the pyramids and I could look out and see the North Star. It’s built to perfection, and to think the Egyptians did all that without a single power tool.”

The Caribbean, Europe, Africa and Egypt are all fond memories for Sanderson, but they pale in comparison to the experiences he’s had in his own backyard. Sanderson can’t imagine living anywhere but here.

“This is a better place than a lot of us realize,” explains Sanderson. “Someone once told me that when you do business in Fort Wayne, you know who the person is, you know the character, you know the company, you know when they say, ‘I’ll be back,’ they’ll be back. When you do business in California, it’s every man for himself and you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Sanderson treasures the countless friends and business associates he has here. One of his proudest accomplishments was when he and a group of local businessmen raised several million dollars and bought Sycamore Hills Golf Club in 2006 after former owner, Jim Kelley, passed away.

“It was the right thing to do,” explains Sanderson. “It’s such an amazing facility, we knew it had to be saved as a local business and not be sold to some out-of-state company.”

Sanderson used to live on the golf course and enjoys an occasional 18 holes, though he admits he’s not an avid golfer. He continues to serve as a managing director and part owner of the club with a sense of humor about the whole project.

“I always tell people, ‘Nobody needs a luxury golf course, but all businesses need insurance,’” he laughs.

Sanderson is currently writing a book about relationships.

“It’s based on my experiences over the last four years, when I became single again for the first time in many years,” he explains. “It’s taken me out of my comfort zone, but I’m okay with that.”