Retired community leader Larry Arth dies at age 65

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By The Lincoln Journal Star

One of Lincoln’s most active and accomplished business and community leaders, Lawrence C. Arth, died Wednesday at the age of 65.

Arth, former chairman of the board of Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. and UNIFI Mutual Holding Company, retired July 31.

He is survived by his wife, Mary, of Lincoln, and his children, Laura Arth, Alexandria, Va., Susie Arth, Larchmont, N.Y., and Bill Arth, Chicago, Ill.

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Larry Arth

Larry Arth

Arth carved a place in the competitive financial services industry for a local life insurance company that, through diversification and acquisitions, became a broader enterprise that ranged from public finance to socially-conscious mutual funds.

Many more people knew him from his participation in community groups that ranged from the 2015 Vision initiative to the Homestead Girl Scouts Council.

In an interview conducted by e-mail in July, Arth was asked how he managed his time well enough to do all he did professionally and still be as active as he was in the community.  

“You have to make time because it’s important. The time comes out of personal time. It’s our responsibility to make our community a better place to live and work.”

Wendy Birdsall, president of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, paid tribute to his commitment as a citizen.

“Larry was a true leader, not only of Ameritas but of the Chamber, the community and the state of Nebraska,” she said.

“He had a great passion to help make Lincoln a better place and we are truly appreciative for his unwavering efforts and support. I’ve had the great opportunity to know Larry for nearly two decades and have learned a great deal from him … Our prayers are with his family.”

The Lincoln native’s career began in 1968, when he joined then Bankers Life Nebraska as a mortgage loan assistant. He rose through the ranks of the investment area, where he was instrumental in Ameritas entering the variable life insurance and annuity business.

In 1988, Arth was named president and chief operating officer, and in 1995 was elected Ameritas chairman and CEO.

In 1988, when the company changed its name from Bankers Life Nebraska to Ameritas, it recorded $1 billion in assets and 700 employees.

As of Dec. 31, 2007, UNIFI Companies reached $18 billion in assets and 2,500 associates nationwide.

Arth earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from the University of Nebraska and served two years in the U.S. Navy.

Arth served on many boards of directors, including the American Council of Life Insurers, Nebraska Wesleyan University and the University of Nebraska Foundation.  He was a governor of the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben.

A former chairman of the Chamber, Arth also served the Nebraska Council on Economic Education, the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, Lincoln Chamber Economic Development Corporation, Catholic Social Services, Catholic Diocese of Lincoln Foundation, Saint Elizabeth Community Health Center, Madonna Centers and the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board.

He won a variety of honors, including membership in the Nebraska Business Hall of Fame and the Roger T. Larson Community Builders Award.

The man for whom that award was named said he’d been thinking about Arth since Wednesday morning, when he heard Arth had died.

“Larry Arth was a rock in the community,” Roger Larson said. “He did everything right. He was a great family man, a great church man, a great businessman, obviously. He was just committed to helping others and it’s a sad time we have to lose someone like that so early in life. We will certainly miss him.”