Debra's Last Day: No dry eyes as Insurance Agent Klaviter retires

Debra Klaviter finsished out her Insurance career today at Farmers at Fourth and Washington, but the unsinkable soul is moving on to great times with her grandkids, family and husband Todd while she still has good energy to enjoy it. Nice call, Debra!

By Tom Peterson

It was a bittersweet day for Debra Klaviter today, Feb. 28. 

After 22 years with Farmers Insurance in The Dalles and 32 in the insurance business, she is hanging it up to spend time with her family.

“I’m trying really hard not to cry,” she said at her office this morning. “It’s been a long time and a long time coming.”

She sent a letter to her clients announcing her retirement at the beginning of the month.

Klaviter said it was time to take a step back as the fast-changing industry is requiring more technology - not her favorite.

And inflation and the environment are wreaking havoc on some policies and premiums.

She pointed to increased costs for coverage on new cars as repairs for technologically advanced vehicles with multiple points of safety are expensive. A window replacement had gone from $300 to $3,000 in the span of her career. It costs $3,500 to replace an airbag. In turn that has pushed premium prices up. 

Likewise, home insurance costs are up for policies covering replacement costs in the event of a total loss such as one caused by a fire. 

Those Insurance costs are reflective of construction costs, which have also shot through the roof in recent years.

And whole areas of coverage are dwindling down to a few companies such as in the area of coverage for manufactured homes. 

And then there is wildfire. 

Residents of Oregon can now see how much their property is at-risk from wildfires. That’s because of a new state-sanctioned map produced by Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Forestry. That in turn is shaking up the insurance market for those homes. 

It’s tough out there. 

Hugs were the norm at Debra Klaviter’s Farmers Insurance office this morning.

Even so, that did not take away from the relationships Klaviter has fostered with her clients over the years, where she advocated to reduce their costs or worked to fulfill their needs.  

On Tuesday, Klaviter hugged her clients and thanked them as they came into her Farmers Insurance agency at the corner of Fourth and Washington Streets.

Farmers took a chance on her 22 years after she worked for years with Steve Hudson at State Farm.

“They said they were going to make me a star. I jumped in a fast-running river running and I had to swim to shore,” she said of her first few years in business. 

She operated, originally from the location where SPR Bikes is at 408 Washington, just a block away. 

Klaviter has worked for her clients providing comfort such as hotel rooms at 2 a.m. or helping with prescriptions when a friend or a client got burned out of their home.

She said she would not miss those stressful moments, but her clients? 

It was sad to see them go, she said. They were bringing tears to her eyes as they wished her well. 

Never bashful - Debra Klaviter has worn her heart on her sleeve for clients for the past 32 years. On Tuesday, Feb. 28, she spent her last day at Farmers Insurance at Fourth and Washington Streets. And yes, she was excited.

“My health is really good, and I promised my family I would retire,” she said. She plans on taking her grandkids to yoga, teaching them, taking them on hikes and spending time with her “awesome” husband, Todd and daughter Kelsie.

Klaviter also quickly found that being a business owner meant extending her family. She brought on and trained multiple people through the business, such as Robin Miles who has another Farmer’s Insurance office at 102 W. Third St. 

“It’s important to employ people and work to promote them,” she said. “Robin worked for me for 12 years. I always wanted her to make it to the next level. And she did. My employees are my other family.”

Time for a break

“I have not had a summer off since Sixth Grade,” she said. “I don’t know what it is like not to work in the summer. I’m looking forward to it.”

She said she had been paying the insurance on her son’s boat on a lake on the Oregon Coast. It was her own little policy to ensure some time on the water. 

Klaviter said she spent her early years working on strawberry fields in Gresham as she grew up in the suburbs of Portland prior to her family moving to The Dalles in 1976. 

And once here, she roller skated orders at Poor Richards A&W which was near the Orient Cafe on West Second Street. 

She eventually parlayed her strong work ethic into a management position at Schuck’s Auto Parts - now O’Reilly. She met Steve Hudson there as she took care of the classic car guy’s parts supply.

Hudson recognized the potential and eventually hired Klaviter away from Schucks at his State Farm office. Hudson offered flexible work hours to Klaviter who was raising children.

The rest is history.

Parting Words

Debra, do you have any advice for a young person starting a business in The Dalles today?

“Whatever you can keep local, keep local,” she said of buying goods and services from businesses in The Dalles. “It’s really important you are out in the community. Host stuff. We used to make popcorn and pop to people coming down to the parade. Just take advantage of this wonderful community. Take advantage of local businesses and show your face.”