Find an agent at their home office
The agents at Northern Finnish Mutual Insurance are dedicated to providing exactly what you need.
Read on for agent bios.
Paul Dennis - Superior
Phone: (715) 392-2850
Email: pdennis@northernfinnishmutual.com
Jerry Heino - Highbridge
Phone: (715) 278-3365
Email: jheino@northernfinnishmutual.com
Peter & Brenda Herlevi - Ashland
Phone: (715) 682-6682
Toll Free: (877) 744-6372
Email: herlevi@northernfinnishmutual.com
Myron Ollanketo - Marengo
Phone: (715) 278-3759
Email: mollanketo@northernfinnishmutual.com
Janice M Penn - Highbridge
Phone: (715) 274-2942
Email: jpenn@northernfinnishmutual.com
Paul Dennis, Agent
When Paul Dennis, Agent, became dissatisfied with his insurance company in 1992, he decided the best solution was to learn more about the industry and become an agent himself. He joined the Northern Finnish Mutual Insurance team that very year. It wasn’t long before he was in the groove, helping NFM customers discover the best insurance policy for their needs.
Paul is known for his dependable, patient, service-oriented style. He is always concerned about quality. He can be counted on to gather necessary data, present that information in a logical way, and simplify the decision making process for clients.
Paul’s work, travel and life experiences provide the ideal background to work with people from all walks of life. As a former Northwest Airlines employee, Paul traveled the country while making his home in Chicago and Minneapolis. He served in the US Army in Vietnam from 1969-70 and was awarded a Bronze Star for Combat.
Upon honorable discharge, Paul continued to work for the US Government in a new role, this time as a mail carrier in Superior, Wisconsin. He counts it a victory that he survived 28 years of cold and snow and says he now has the best of both worlds -- spending summer, fall and spring in the northland and winters in Yuma, Arizona.
Paul says to live life to the fullest as if it’s your last and to contact him with insurance-related questions.
Jerry Heino, Agent
Jerry Heino, Agent and third-generation policy holder with Northern Finnish Mutual Insurance, is a service-oriented big thinker who jumped at the opportunity to join the NFM team as an agent in 2007. Patient and empathetic, Jerry says he was drawn to the uniqueness of NFMI and the chance to be involved with people. Customers appreciate his bottom-line orientation when it comes to providing information and advice related to their insurance needs.
Jerry lived in the Sanborn, Wisconsin area most of his life, until recently moving to the Bass Lake, High Bridge area. After 35 years as the Manager in the agriculture supply business, he retired to pursue personal interests including part-time agriculture, gardening, hunting, fishing, spending time with family, and meeting new people.
Jerry is often asked about insurance, planting a lawn or garden, and crops for the area grain markets. He says life is what you make it…and his is made of deep satisfaction as he connects with NFM customers, listens to their questions and concerns, and provides solutions to insurance challenges faced by individuals, families and businesses throughout the region.
Jerry has traveled to several countries in Europe on a FFA Goodwill tour, to Mexico and Hawaii, and to several southern, western and midwestern states.
Jerry is happily surrounded by his wife, four children, four step-children, 24 grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and a dog Toivo—the Finn Lander Shiatsu. He is a life-long member of Moland Lutheran Church, a member of the Church Council and President of the Moland Cemetery Association. He says he would like to see society slow down, enjoy family and friends, enjoy and preserve nature, and work together for a better future.
Peter & Brenda Herlevi, Agents
Have you ever stopped to consider the advantages of a two-for-one deal? In the case of Peter & Brenda Herlevi, Agents, that’s really what you’re getting as this dynamic duo works together to ensure Northern Finnish Mutual Insurance policy owners receive personal and individualized attention, no matter if they are a new customer or long-standing client. Peter and Brenda are known for being an "anchor of reality" in a "sea of confusion," for sending friendly reminders about important dates, and for calling out-of-the-blue just to check in. Their style is key in making NFM customers feel comfortable and in good hands.
Over the last three years, Peter has brought this same individualized, common sense approach to the table in helping clients put together insurance and financial solutions for any number of personal financial situations. Clarity Financial LLC was founded by Peter in response to the great confusion and even fear he encountered as he talked with people about their personal finances. He now helps people in all sorts of ways – from finding appropriate and affordable health insurance,including Medicare coverage, to determining and placing appropriate amounts of life and long-term-care insurance, to helping people save for and create income and estate plans for retirement. Brenda entered the insurance world at IDS Life Insurance Company (now part of Ameriprise Financial) creating sales and training materials for agents selling fixed and variable annuities.
Peter and Brenda both grew up in Bayfield County -- Brenda in Washburn and Peter in Grand View. They have lived in Madison, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City, but chose to raise their family here in the northland, returning in 2001. They became Northern Finnish Mutual agents in 2002. In addition, Pete is the Vice President of Operations at the State Bank of Drummond, and Brenda is a volunteer in the kids’ classrooms, and is a Girl Scouts troop leader and community Cookie Manager for the Chequamegon area. They have four children, and will celebrate 20 years of marriage this coming September. Brenda also enjoys cooking and quilting when she can find the time. Pete realized a long-time dream of owning a sailboat in recent years. From May to October, the Herlevi family can often be found aboard “Sea of Dew” exploring Chequamegon Bay and the Apostle Islands.
Myron Ollanketo, Agent
Patient and empathetic, Myron Ollanketo, Agent, joined the Northern Finnish Mutual Insurance team as a Board member in 1998 and became an agent in 2006. Customers benefit from his objective, realistic and service-oriented approach as he places a high priority on listening to what customers are saying and giving them the opportunity to explain their needs in detail before providing individual solutions.
Myron’s knowledge and experience are the perfect background for answering sought-after advice about insurance, heating and air conditioning, anything propane related, outdoor power and recreation equipment, and vacuum sales and service. He understands firsthand the importance of insuring recreational equipment thanks to his passion for riding motorcycles, snowmobiles, 4-wheelers, tractors and ATVs.
Myron is a life-long resident of Marengo, Wisconsin. He holds a diploma in Welding, Machine Tool and HVAC from Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College. He attended the Dale Carnegie Institute and is the recipient of numerous Midwest Area Sales Awards and Contest Awards with Electrolux.
Myron and his wife of 28 years have four children, two dogs and a cat. They share a love of the northland; the Packers, Brewers and Bucks; and have traveled to Canada, the Caribbean, many states in the U.S. plus the Grand Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, Hoover Dam, Niagara Falls, and the Badlands.
Myron says to count your blessings every day, especially if you’re lucky enough to have your health and a healthy family.
Janice Penn, Agent
Known for organizing programs and projects, Janice Penn, Agent, is a natural leader and insurance agent. She is professional, precise and attentive to detail and takes pride in removing the overwhelming feeling that often comes with making insurance decisions. Customers can rest assured that she will never promise service she cannot deliver.
Where does that systematic, thorough approach come from? We think it dates back to growing up in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin -- a German Catholic farm community where neighbor helped neighbor.
Jan carried those values with her to Ashland County in 1972 where she met like-minded neighbors at her first NFM membership meeting. Within one year she was asked to join the Board of Directors. “The men on the Board said they needed a woman,” Jan said. “My name was put before the meeting, and I became the first woman on the Board of NFM. Within a couple of years they decided I should be President, and so I became the first women President of a Wisconsin Town Mutual.
“When some of the Board members and agents began to retire and pass on in the 1980s, we needed agents. I decided to help out. I really feel blessed by having had the opportunity to know some of those old Finnish farmers, loggers and laborers whose families started NFM. They really taught me a lot about the co-op spirit, fairness, and neighborly caring.”
Jan says NFM came into existence when no other company would step forward to provide such service in rural Northern Wisconsin.
She believes NFM must continue to leverage resources, skills and knowledge to provide the best insurance possible while being creative in addressing the challenges inherent in providing coverage’s for new perils as the community grows and moves toward more sustainable energy resources, home construction, and business/farming ventures.
Jan is the recipient of the League of Women Voters-Wisconsin Leadership Award, the 5 Star Award for Patient Satisfaction and Service, and certified as a National Nurse Practitioner-Adult Health. She serves on the Medical Advisory MA Program at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College.
When she’s not immersed in insurance, Jan is likely working as a Nurse Practitioner at the Ashland Clinic…or planting, harvesting, preserving, fishing, crocheting or knitting…or working on social justice, human equality, health and environmental stewardship projects…or spending time with her husband, daughter, son-in-law, twin grand-daughters plus two cats, two dogs, two horses and lots of chickens.
