SFLIC announces executive leadership changes and advancements.
Hot Springs, Arkansas – April 20, 2024 - SFLIC announces recent changes and promotions within the executive and senior management team, effective April 1, 2024.
ROBERT W. EICHELBERGER, CPA, CFSP, CPC, CCO
This is to announce that Robert W. Eichelberger has retired from his position as President and Chief Executive Officer, as of March 31, 2024. He continues his association with SFLIC as a special consultant.
Eichelberger joined the Selected organization in 2007 to oversee the funeral home operations at that time of Selected Financial Service Corporation and worked as a consultant with SFLIC prior to joining SFLIC in 2011 as Executive Vice President and Director of Sales Development. Since that time, he assumed the Chief Operations Officer responsibilities, overseeing the New Business, Customer Service, and Benefits functions, and then was named SFLIC’s third President and Chief Executive Officer since the Company was founded in 1960.
Eichelberger, commenting on his retirement, said that he valued his time of service with SFLIC and expected the Company would continue its successful path forward. He added that he looks forward to more leisure traveling and spending more time with his grandchildren in retirement.
T. R. “BUDDY” COURTNEY, CPC
We are pleased to announce that the SFLIC Board of Directors elected Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer T.R. “Buddy” Courtney as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2024. “We are very pleased to have Buddy in this new role and are confident his long experience within the insurance industry and substantial financial responsibilities in several industries will serve SFLIC at the highest level. We look forward to his leadership as we continue to provide the SFLIC-affiliated funeral homes, their clientele, and SFLIC-affiliated agents with the finest in products and services,” said Sumner Brashears, chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors.
Courtney remarked, “There has been a tremendous foundation built over the last 64 years at SFLIC. Going forward, we will build on the identity and traditions that define SFLIC and are excited to focus on growing this Company as we pursue new initiatives to serve the SFLIC-affiliated funeral homes and their clientele. I deeply appreciate the trust the Board of Directors has placed in me with this position of leadership, and the opportunity to be working with the excellent, dedicated staff that SFLIC is privileged to have. I look forward to vibrant, new opportunities for SFLIC.”
Courtney joined SFLIC in 2016 as Controller, soon advancing to Chief Financial Officer (CFO). In addition to assuming oversight of the chief executive functions for the Company, he will continue responsibility as CFO. He will also serve as SFLIC’s representative at the Louisiana Life and Health Guaranty Association. Courtney has a distinguished career with 37 years of executive level accounting experience and approximately 28 years in the insurance industry as well as consulting and system conversion experience. Courtney has a Bachelor of Science degree from Arkansas State University where he majored in accounting. He holds the Certified Preplanning Consultant (CPC) designation through the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA).
Buddy and his wife, Barbara, are residents of Hot Springs, and enjoy living on Lake Hamilton.
TARA E. ARTHUR, FLMI, PHR, SHRM-CP, CPC
We are pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has named Executive Vice President Tara E. Arthur as Chief Operating Officer, effective April 1, 2024. Arthur continues to serve SFLIC as Chief Human Resources (HR) Officer and Chief Compliance Officer.
Arthur commented, “I deeply value my 28 years at SFLIC and the wide experience it has provided that I am excited to bring to this new position. I feel that, over the years, learning the multiple aspects of this Company’s operation, with the opportunity to absorb SFLIC’s mission and history, has uniquely prepared me for this service to the Company. I have great confidence in our new president’s leadership and believe that together we will bring a balance of strong assets to lead SFLIC forward. I very much appreciate the strength of the Company’s excellent staff members that bring expertise to our operations company-wide. I am excited to be a part of SFLIC’s growth going forward and our service to the funeral profession, SFLIC’s agents, and our affiliated funeral homes and their clientele.”
Arthur is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she majored in journalism with an emphasis in public relations. She joined SFLIC in 1996 in the Corporate Services Division, advancing from there to several areas of responsibility, including as Director and then Chief of Human Resources, and in 2003 as Insurance Compliance Officer for the Company. A graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Arthur holds the HR certifications of PHR and SHRM-CP, and has received numerous honors through the national, state, and local HR organizations. She has also earned Life Office Management Association (LOMA) designations, including the Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI), and the Certified Preplanning Consultant (CPC) designation from the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA). Among other achievements, she is also one of the originators of the successful West Central Arkansas Society for Human Resource Management’s Managers Seminar, attended annually by managers from across Arkansas.
Tara and her husband, Jeff, are longtime residents of Hot Springs, and enjoy the community’s cultural and culinary offerings. Tara is an avid reader, and both enjoy special time with their two “rescue” dogs, Teddy, and Bailey.
C. SUZANNE EADES, FLMI, CPC
SFLIC is pleased to have announced that Senior Vice President C. Suzanne Eades was promoted to the position of Director of Sales in the Sales Development Division, effective April 1, 2024. In this position, Eades oversees all sales activities in the states in which SFLIC conducts business.
Eades joined SFLIC in 2000 as a Regional Representative in Oklahoma before transferring to work for SFLIC in Mississippi. In 2007, Eades was promoted to Assistant Regional Director for Mississippi, and Regional Director the next year. In time she was named Area Director for Mississippi and Louisiana, and later added responsibilities in Oklahoma. In 2016, the SFLIC Board of Directors named Eades a senior vice president. In 2020, she was advanced to SFLIC’s Assistant Director of Sales.
Eades earned her Certified Preplanning Consultant (CPC) designation through the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) in 2000. In addition, she earned the Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI) designation through the Life Office Management Association (LOMA) in 2012. She also holds several Associate designations through the LOMA program.
Eades, a resident of Mississippi, while active daily in serving the needs of agents and funeral homes affiliated with SFLIC, is also deeply interested in the region’s funeral profession and its associations. She has served as President of the Mississippi Funeral Supply & Sales Club (MFSSC) for four years and currently is Secretary. She, along with other MFSSC officers, is the originator of the Expo of the South for Funeral Service, an exposition of products and services of providers to the funeral profession, held annually in Jackson, Mississippi. Among other honors over the years, in 2015 and again in 2024, Eades was presented with the coveted President’s Award by the Mississippi Funeral Directors & Morticians Association.
Eades is a music enthusiast and a writer, currently in the process of crafting an educational children’s book about the various genres of music found in the state of Mississippi. Suzanne shares her Tupelo home with her three canine companions, Maggie, Daisy, and Evie.
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To visit with Buddy Courtney, Tara Arthur, or any of SFLIC’s home office management team members, please contact SFLIC corporate offices at 800-272-2087, or by email via SFLIC’s website at sflic.net/contact-us.
To contact Suzanne Eades or your SFLIC State Sales Director, call 800-272-2087 or go to sflic.net/sales-development-team-state-directors, or to sflic.net/contact-us.