"It is with deeply saddened hearts that we say goodbye to our Father and Husband, Terry K. Headley in Melbourne Beach, Florida on March 18, 2023. Terry's passion was IFAPAC, and Terry would want any memorials directed to IFAPAC. Terry and I treasured all the support and friendships over the years. Thank You. There will be a Private Family Remembrance of Terry in Florida."
-- Wynetta Headley and Family
NAIFA is sad to inform our members, partners, and friends that NAIFA Past President Terry K. Headley, LUTCF, FSS, LIC, passed away March 18, in Melbourne Beach, Florida. A loyal NAIFA member since 1974, Terry was a legend in the insurance and financial services industry. He was the Founder and President of Headley Financial Group in LaVista, Nebraska.
Terry Headley entered the life insurance business in January 1973 at age 19 after briefly playing professional baseball. He was the youngest agent ever inducted into the Principal Financial Group’s Hall of Fame and earned more than four decades of consecutive Club Qualifications.
Terry held every volunteer leadership position, including President, with NAIFA-Omaha and NAIFA-Nebraska. He was first elected to NAIFA’s National Board of Trustees in 2004 and served as National President for the 2010-2011 term. He also served on the national board of NAIFA partner Life Happens.
He was inducted into the NAIFA-Omaha Hall of Fame and received the NAIFA-Nebraska Distinguished Service Award. In 2020, he was honored with the John Newton Russell Memorial Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a living individual in the life insurance and financial services industry.
Terry is the namesake of NAIFA’s Terry Headley Lifetime Defender Award, which is presented annually to a NAIFA member who has demonstrated extraordinary support for NAIFA’s advocacy efforts and IFAPAC. Terry, along with his good friend Robert Miller, M.A., M.S., was given the title of IFAPAC Co-Commander-in-Chief based on his lifetime contributions to NAIFA’s political action committee. He was a key NAIFA contact for multiple members of the Nebraska congressional delegation and state legislators over the years.
He testified on numerous occasions before congressional committees, state legislatures, and federal and state regulatory agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Health and Human Services Department, Department of Labor (DOL), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). He also testified at the White House on the DOL’s fiduciary rule proposal. Terry’s efforts were instrumental in the DOL rule’s eventual defeat in federal court, which benefitted hundreds of thousands of advisors and their clients.
Media outlets frequently sought Terry as an industry expert, and he appeared in interviews with the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Fox Business News, Reuters, Bloomberg Business, and InvestmentNews. In 2011, InvestmentNews named him one of the “20 Most Powerful People” in financial services.
Terry’s wife, Wynetta, and his children reiterated that Terry's passion was NAIFA’s IFAPAC, and the greatest way to honor his memory would be for more agents and advisors to join NAIFA and contribute to IFAPAC.
NAIFA is collecting memories and tributes to Terry, which we will share. Please send your thoughts, memories, photos, and tributes to membernews@naifa.org.
Contributions to IFAPAC are voluntary and are used to contribute to campaigns of candidates for elected office. Your contributions will be divided between your state chapter’s IFAPAC and IFAPAC National if you have directed NAIFA to do so. You have the right to refuse to contribute without reprisal. The amount contributed will not benefit or disadvantage you in any way. Corporate contributions to IFAPAC’s political fund are prohibited. Contributions to IFAPAC are not deductible for federal income tax purposes. For NAIFA-Massachusetts members, the division of funds will be 60%/40% up to the state limit of $500 per calendar year. For NAIFA-New York members, a contribution on an LLC account will be retained 100% by the IFAPAC administrative fund due to state campaign finance rules.