After 10 years of selling insurance and building relationships, your Rolodex can get a little full. That can be a good thing, until the day when you decide to pack up and move on into a new phase of your life.

That’s just what is happening for Kirk Geiger, a recent insurance agent and community supporter in Mountlake Terrace “After you’ve dealt with an incredible amount of good people, you want to say goodbye to everyone, but that’s impossible,” said.

Geiger boxed up his office belongings this week after a decade of selling insurance from the State Farm Insurance branch at 220th Street Southwest and 66th Avenue West. Geiger had been handling the policies of about 5,000 customers, but last year decided to try something different; the former agent grabbed the last remaining franchise in Western Washington of ServPro, a national building restoration company, and will operate that business endeavor out of Kirkland.

After announcing his retirement from selling insurance in September, regional State Farm managers asked Geiger to stay on until the end of the year when another agent could take over his office space. Geiger consented and has been using the time to make phone calls and send emails to his clients to tell them he would be leaving State Farm; in four months he still wasn’t able to contact everyone. “I had people calling me this week saying, ‘what, you’re leaving?’” he said.

One long-time customer even stopped by the branch office on New Year’s Day only to find Geiger cleaning out the last remaining items out of his desk.

State Farm has tried to help in notifying clients by sending out a mailing stating that a new agent will be taking over the office previously occupied by Geiger. Current State Farm policy owners who had Geiger as their agent will see no change in their policies, and can contact the new agent taking over the Mountlake Terrace office, Josh Culotti, to have questions answered.

Although he, his wife and kids don’t live in Mountlake Terrace, Geiger had became involved in the community with not only the insurance office but by supporting many various groups and causes, including Tour de Terrace, National Night Out, youth athletics, school activities and local media outlets. He hopes to build the same type of relationships over in Kirkland.

Geiger estimates he handled the insurance policies of one out of every five people in Mountlake Terrace.

— By Doug Petrowski