Published: October 11, 2008 09:23 pm         

Houck: most noble jobs are ministry, insurance

Kent Houck has been in the insurance business since 1964, but he has done a lot more with his life than just sell policies.

Houck owns Houck Agency LLC at 801 S. Main St. His father, Merlyn, opened the business across the street in 1951. Houck joined the business in 1964 after graduating from Oklahoma State University with a general business major and a minor in insurance.

He officiated Big 8 football for 20 years and the number surpasses 30 if you include high school and college. He worked 17 bowl games, including two national championships — the 1978 Cotton Bowl that saw Notre Dame defeat Texas and the 1983 Sugar Bowl where Penn State beat Georgia.

He officiated the final game of some of college football’s greatest players — Earl Campbell, Ty Detmer, Eric Dickerson, Bo Jackson and Herschel Walker.

He became the Big 8’s youngest official at 29 and later the youngest to do a national championship.

One of the main reasons he got out of officiating was the schedule.

“I became an elder in my church (Church of Christ) in 1988 and it just became very difficult to be gone as much officiating and be a good shepherd to the church,” Houck said.

He has performed weddings and funerals.

To him, ministry is “the most noble profession in the world ... because you prepare souls for where they are going to spend eternity. I think the second most noble profession is that of the insurance business because I help people live the best life possible while they’re here on Earth. Life insurance, long-term-care disability, any of those kind of products that we sell, help people live their life the best they can here.”

His wife of more than 45 years, Barbara, is a licensed broker and handles the real estate side of the business.

Together they have two grown daughters, Kristi and Kimberli.

The couple has “tried to give back, especially to the youth of the community,” Houck said. They work youth camps at church, are active in 4-H and Little League.

They are also big OSU fans. In fact, they have season tickets to every sport except softball “and I probably should add them too,” Houck said.

He is on the OSU Athletic Council and was part of the committee that hired Cowgirl basketball coach Kurt Budke.

Last season, they repeatedly bought and gave away 100 tickets for Cowgirl home games. Look for that to happen again this year.

“We received many thank-you notes from people across the state who said they appreciated it,” Houck said. “Now that they have seen a girls game they plan to buy season tickets.”

The man who was born in Woodward in 1942 but made Stillwater home within his first year said there is no place he’d rather live now.

“I have traveled the world,” Houck said. “Everyone always asks me where I’d want to live and I always say Stillwater, Oklahoma. This is the best community I’ve ever been in. Nothing is even close. Barbara and I have been very fortunate.”

That said, he believes in principles that have made his life fortunate.

“The work ethic I learned from my father,” Houck said. “If you give to people, it will be given back to you many times over. That’s scriptural. Faith in the Lord. Always do what’s right.”

     

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