Not quite 28 years ago Walter Will decided to come home to West Winfield.
After graduating from West Winfield School in 1964, Will attended Orange County Community College.
He then spent the next three years in Happy Valley, Pa. attending Penn State.
Then came the call from the military and Will served for two years in Southeast Asia. He then returned to Penn State and finished up his degree.
That led him to New Jersey, where he managed a golf course. From there Will evolved to handling property management for others.
In 1995 he contracted with an agency to see if there was anything suitable closer to West Winfield. “We thought it was time to come back here,’’ he said.
His wife, Pat, was in the healthcare industry and when Will was offered a job with the Otsego County Farm Bureau, they came back to this part of the world.
Three years later he heard of an opening right in West Winfield with an insurance company. Knowing most of the farm families in the area helped, and Will decided to make the change.
“I couldn’t spell insurance when I got the job,’’ he joked, “but it was helping farmers with their property and it seemed a good fit.’’
In part that came because ...