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Des Moines natives Gary Kirke and Bill Van Orsdel, who started with nothing and built insurance brokerage Kirke-Van Orsdel Inc. into a major financial success, are among five men who have been selected for the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame.

Willard Classen, Cleo Edwards and the late R.W. “Mickey” Forshay complete the 2008 class.

Kirke and Van Orsdel met as students at Roosevelt High School. More than a decade later, they ran into each other in Washington, D.C., and their business partnership began. They founded KVI in 1974, and in 10 years had joined forces with a New York competitor and assembled a list of Fortune 500 clients.

In 1998, Kirke and Van Orsdel sold their insurance brokerage and employee benefits businesses to Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. and Automatic Data Processing Inc.

Willard Classen retired in 1992 as president of Rain and Hail Insurance Service and Agri General Insurance Co. Born in Glenvil, Neb., in 1928, Classen started his insurance career as a special agent with the Rain and Hail Insurance Bureau in Omaha. He became president of Rain and Hail in 1980 and president of Agri General in 1983. He still lives in Des Moines.

Cleo Edwards became an agent with Central Life Assurance Co. in Cedar Rapids in 1950 and has remained with the company as it evolved into AmerUs Group Co. and now Aviva USA.

Mickey Forshay was born in Anita, graduated from the University of Iowa and joined his family’s insurance business in 1923. He rose to become president of the National Association of Insurance Agents and was a leader in endorsing the creation of the National Association of Insurance Women. He died in 1943.

At the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Iowa Insurance Commissioner Susan Voss will award a pair of scholarships, and Larry Zimpleman, president of Principal Financial Group Inc., will deliver the keynote speech.

The event is scheduled for May 22 at Drake University’s Olmsted Center. The social hour begins at 5 p.m., followed by dinner at 6 and the program at 6:45. For more information, contact Melissa Meiners by phone at 223-6060 or by e-mail at Melissa@iiaiowa.org.