William F. W. Fellows, former chairman and CEO of Swett & Crawford Group, died April 5 at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. Fellows was 83 and died of natural causes.
A native of the UK, Fellows moved to the U.S. in 1947 where he worked for insurance broker Cravens Dargan in San Francisco. He joined Swett & Crawford in Los Angeles in 1950, and headed the company’s San Diego office from 1953 to 1960. In 1960 he was named vice president of the firm’s specialty insurance underwriting operation, the Harbor Insurance Company, in Los Angeles. He was named president of the Harbor in 1967. Fellows was appointed president of Swett & Crawford Group in 1974, and then to chairman and CEO in 1976.
In addition to the Harbor Insurance Company, Fellows built Swett & Crawford Group to include the Buffalo Reinsurance Company, a professional reinsurer; Reinsurance Facilities Corp., a reinsurance intermediary; Swett & Crawford, the largest wholesale broker in the U.S., and Unionamerica, a London market underwriting manager. He retired in 1981.
He is survived by three sons, Rupert, Hilary (Bo) and Julien of La Jolla, Calif. A memorial is planned for May 1 at 2 p.m. at The Park on the Green, 500 Coast Blvd., La Jolla.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests a donation to the San Diego Hospice, 4311 Third Avenue, San Diego, Calif. 92103.
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