Coffee, Cigars, and a Life Well-Lived in the Title Industry

When I hopped on a call with Fran Kelly, I accidentally interrupted his sacred late morning ritual, sipping coffee and savoring a cigar. After decades of grinding, building an insurance empire, and passing it to his daughters, the guy’s earned every puff. Fran’s story isn’t just about insurance; it’s about resilience, family, and chasing a vision through tough times. With a laugh, he forgave my intrusion, and we dove into his wild journey, one that’s equal parts heart, hustle, and a knack for turning setbacks into comebacks.

Fran’s career kicked off in the early 1970s in Florida’s Clay County School Board, where he held a leadership role as dean of students, handling the junior high’s most troublesome kids. He was good at it, maybe too good, because the school wouldn’t let him move on. Frustrated but determined, Fran decided to pivot in 1980. He marched into Management Recruiters of Orange Park and declared, “I’ll do anything except insurance.”

But life’s got a funny way of ignoring your plans. A recruiter saw something in him, and soon Fran was interviewing with an insurance office in Jacksonville. He trained at the Florida Insurance School, where his instructor lit a special spark in him, and Fran fell head over heels for the 1943 Standard New York Fire Insurance Policy. “What a time,” he chuckles, still geeked about it. Later it was the Insurance Institute of America, and then the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors to obtain his industry designations.

By his early thirties, Fran was a young dad navigating life with his wife and their adopted son, Michael. In a twist straight out of a movie, Fran later learned Michael was the grandson of his favorite bus driver, the foreman of the school’s 26 buses. The connection felt fated, but Fran’s heart was pulling him back to Pennsylvania. So, in 1984, the family packed up and moved. He took a job in a general insurance agency, dealing with cars and homes, etc. But then, in 1990, Pennsylvania’s Act 6 and Act 44 slammed the brakes on commercial auto and workers’ comp markets. Selling insurance got brutal, and Fran was burning out. “I told my boss, ‘I gotta go,’” he says.

He walked away, ready to start over at zero.

Inspired by his mom, a title searcher, and a reliable client (one of his clients who always paid on-time each month with good funds), Fran saw a niche: title and abstract companies. He set up shop in downtown Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1993, where office space was dirt cheap. But launching a business with a mortgage and kids to feed? That’s no joke.

Fran scraped by, tending bar at night and working weekends at a mushroom plant, elbow-deep in horse manure to regulate the temperature for mushroom spores. “You had to aerate it with your hands,” he says, laughing. His kids, Alicia and Kaitlin (who goes by Kate), then 10 and 12, pitched in, folding letters and stuffing envelopes. They knew Dad was building something, even if the bank account didn’t show it yet.

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Fran’s vision was laser-focused: to be the “go to” guy for the title insurance industry. But the early days were lean, and self-doubt crept in. Then, in 1996, Pennsylvania’s Act 79 changed everything. It mandated errors and omissions (E&O) insurance and fidelity bonds for title agents, and suddenly, Fran’s phone was ringing off the hook. Lenders demanded proof of coverage, and Fran’s niche expertise made him the guy to call.

That was the “Fran Kelly Relief Act,” he jokes.

His company, officially launched on July 1, 1993, started to soar. He expanded from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, New York, and Ohio, building a reputation as the title insurance guru who knew more than the local insurance agents who were dabbling in everything.

But success didn’t mean smooth sailing.

In 2008, the financial crisis hit, and AIG, one of Fran’s biggest carriers, stopped writing policies. Years earlier, Fran had made a bold move, referring around 200 clients to a competitor when a policy exclusion left them exposed. That integrity paid off because most clients came back when Fran secured a new deal with AIG’s successor in this line.

His daughters, Kate and Alicia, were now in the game too. Kate joined in 2008 after graduating from Pitt, cracking open the Ohio market. Alicia, fresh from a hedge fund gig in Manhattan, took a pay cut to join in 2010. Fran sent them to the Land Title Institute for Fundamentals of Title Insurance, and the Professional Liability Underwriting Society’s “PLUS University” in Chicago, ensuring they were as sharp as he was. “They’re bright, personable, and awesome,” he beams.

Just when things were humming, Fran’s health threw a curveball. In 2008, his “widow maker” artery blocked up, followed by another blockage in 2010. “I wasn’t good at handling the stress,” he admits. But Fran’s resilience kicked in. By 2013, he knew Kate and Alicia were ready to lead. When a large underwriter came knocking, wanting to buy the company, Fran sat them down with his daughters and said no. “That was a big confirmation of my faith in them,” he says. On August 22, 2013, he sold the company to his girls and stepped back, staying “just a phone call away” but letting them run the show.

Retirement didn’t suit Fran for long though. After six months glued to the couch, he got a job taking tickets at the Reading Phillies’, and later as announcer for the Dreamleague, a program for players with physical, cognitive, or emotional challenges. He’s now the announcer every Saturday, donating his massive Phil’s paychecks (almost totaled $900 last year) to the league’s charity. He’s also on the board of the local sewer authority and Albright College Alumni, where he did his undergrad.

But the title industry still calls. Fran teaches continuing education courses, a gig he started in the mid-1990s with the Philadelphia Association of Title Examiners. His cartoon-laden slides, featuring himself pitching E&O options, brought humor to the room and credibility to his name. “When you’re in front of 250 people who know the industry, it shows you might be legit,” he says.

Fran’s company, Fran Kelly Professional Liability LLC, now in 26 states, has worked with over a thousand title agencies, thanks to his vision and hustle. But around 2015, they spotted a new threat: cybercriminals targeting title companies’ escrow accounts. The team tailored cyber liability coverage for their clients, staying ahead of the curve despite skyrocketing prices. “The bad guys keep getting creative,” he says, shaking his head.

Today, Fran’s still shaking hands and kissing babies (as he likes to put it) at title seminars in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, two of his favorite markets. His daughters run the show, but Fran’s legacy is everywhere: in the company he built, the industry he shaped, and the family he raised to carry it forward. As he sits back with his cigar and coffee, Fran Kelly’s earned every moment of peace, proof that grit, vision, and a little humor can turn a tough start into a triumphant finish.