KOSEY CORNER
While many businesses have come and gone in Riverside, one that has remained constant and may even be the oldest business in the village is Strohecker Insurance Agency, which this year celebrates its 75th anniversary in business.
Currently located at 115 E. Burlington St., the agency was started in 1935 by Robert Strohecker, who worked out of his home on Lincoln Avenue. The Strohecker family and the business made the move in 1949 to Lawton Road.
The business continued to grow and in 1958 Strohecker found it necessary to find office space. He purchased an old gas station at 115 E. Burlington St., the agency’s present site, and, after much renovation, converted it into what today is the Strohecker Insurance Agency.
Maintaining it as a family business has not been hard to do. Strohecker’s son-in-law, Rich Cribaro, who married Melinda Strohecker, joined his father-in-law at the agency in 1968.
Not long after that, Robert Strohecker, knowing his business was in good hands, retired to Florida in 1971. Another generation entered the business in 1990 when Doug Cribaro came to work following the footsteps of his grandfather and father. At that time, with the office expanding, it became necessary to put on an addition for two offices onto the Burlington building.
Doug Cribaro says he was not sure insurance was what he planned to do with his life 20 years ago, but he’s happy to be a part of the business started by his grandfather. It has been and continues to be a great experience, he says.
The business has served many people over the past 75 years, many of them generations within the same family. Cribaro finds clients of the Stroheckers have been loyal and friendly; it is more of a friendship-based business.
Robert Strohecker, who has since passed away, the father of four daughters, could never have imagined how his business became a part of Riverside’s history. The Strohecker home on Lawton Road, which once housed the business, is now home to Doug and Melinda Cribaro.
The former gas station on Burlington is now just a memory and the building will have its place in Riverside history books as the site of the Strohecker Insurance Agency.
Doug Cribaro added that he would like to thank all of the loyal customers over the years as the Strohecker Insurance Agency looks forward to another 75 years.
