The Jewish Federation of Omaha invites the community to honor and celebrate the legacy of John Lehr & Arnold Joffe (Grace/Mayer) at their induction into the Jewish Business Leaders Hall of Fame.
Arnold Joffe was born 6 weeks early in Omaha in February of 1939. The doctor who delivered him said he was so small that his mother would never see him alive. Fortunately, Arnold proved the doctor wrong.
He graduated from Central High School in 1957 and continued on to University Nebraska Lincoln where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. Arnold graduated with a BS in 1961, majoring in insurance.
After an extensive European cruise, lasting from Saturday to Monday of the same week, he started work at HA Wolf Company in the insurance division 2 days after graduating college.
Arnold worked for HA Wolf until 1977, at which time he started his own insurance agency with two partners, Bill Kully and Paul Grossman. They operated Joffe Kully Grossman insurance agency from 1977 through 1982. At that time, he merged with the Grace Mayer Insurance Agency and partnered with Marty Lehr and Gary Kaplan. The company became Grace Mayer Joffe Kully Grossman Insurance. They quickly realized that the name was too long (and the only way to get your name on the door was to die) so they reverted back to Grace Mayer.
The firm grew from approximately 30 employees to an eventual 85. They handled commercial and personal insurance, eventually adding livestock. This was one of the key contributions to Grace Mayer’s growth. In 2012 Grace Mayer was purchased by the Arthur J Gallagher Insurance Company. Arnold continued to work as a consultant until 2015, at which time he retired, culminating a 54-year career.
As a community leader, Arnold served as president of Beth El Synagogue, Highland Country Club, and the Omaha Insurance Association.
He is the patriarch of his family, having been married to his wife, Sheryn, for 57 years. The couple have two daughters and sons-in-law who all live in Omaha. Arnold is the proud grandfather of six grandchildren, Tyler (Stephanie), Monica, Josh, Lily, Lucy, and Knox.
Arnold and Sheryn split their time between Omaha and Scottsdale.
John Lehr followed his grandfather Alfred Mayer and father Martin Lehr as the third generation of his family to work for and ultimately lead Grace/Mayer Insurance (est. 1917), prior to its 2012 merger with Arthur J. Gallagher and Co. He did part time projects there while at Westside High School and internships as an undergraduate at Duke University, and ultimately joined the firm full time after working 2 years for Chubb and then earning his MBA at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
At Grace/Mayer, in concert with his father Marty, and friend, mentor, and co-inductee Arnold Joffe, they started and grew a Life Insurance and Financial Planning Division, an Employee Benefits Division, and a Safety and Loss Control Services Consultancy to round out its core Commercial Property and Casualty specialty. Along the way they broadened their real estate, food, logistics, and construction expertise to include technology, livestock, and financial services, using tools inside and outside its walls to grow together with its amazing clients.
After more than tripling its employee count, raising its revenues seven-fold, and welcoming 3 new non-family partners, John led the successful merger with Gallagher, the world’s 3rd largest insurance broker, where he stayed 3 years to lead the Grace/Mayer integration and transition to Gallagher.
While working and attending to his family, he also spent many years on the boards of The Jewish Federation, The Jewish Community Center, Jewish Social Services (RBJH and JFS), and 20 years on the Temple Israel board, culminating with the fund raising, planning, and construction of its new Sterling Ridge home as President. John was the fourth Temple President of his family, following his grandfather and both parents.
John is happily spending more time with his Denver attorney daughter Avery and her new husband Alex and dog Phil, his Seattle data-scientist son Jacob and longtime girlfriend Natalie, and his beautiful wife of 37 years Sandy, in both Omaha and Frisco Colorado.
