The insurance industry isn’t where Ardene Boysen initially pictured himself as he thought about a career. He’d planned as a young man to enter into the field of education. He wanted to be a teacher.
Minnesota in the early 1970’s however saw a glut of unemployed teachers. Boysen, who grew up there, said he was advised to find a different path.
He opted for a business degree.
Now, just shy of 50 years later, Boysen is closing the books on his insurance career as he officially steps into retirement — one of the many more notable and visible retirements throughout the county in the past couple of months.
Boysen and his family, just before the turn of the year, gathered in front of the office he occupied for decades and took down the old Boysen Insurance sign. It was a bittersweet moment, as Boysen will tell you that he immensely enjoyed his career, all there was to do and learn, and the people he was able to work with.

But he and his wife, Roxy, are excited for all that might come next.
“If not home, we will be on the road someplace,” said Boysen. “We’ve been waiting for the opportunity to travel more and as much as our health will allow us.” The couple especially cannot wait to see more of their six grandchildren.
Boysen has seen a lot of change in his time in the insurance industry; he started in the insurance business in fall of 1975, first working for First Bank System in Luverne and Windom, Minnesota. In January of 1981, he and Roxy moved to Flandreau where he worked for the then Farmers State Bank, managing their insurance agency, which he did for the next 15 years. In the spring of 1996, he started Boysen Insurance Services in the Kinner building on 2nd Avenue in Flandreau and worked as an Independent Agent until he sold the agency to King Insurance of Faulkton SD in July of 2000.
The changes were “huge,” he said, seeing communication go from “speed” memos in triplicate via US Mail to all internet.
Boysen continued to work part time for King Insurance until this past summer when he “officially” retired.
His best advice for others in the industry, “Education is paramount.” Ardene was a Certified Insurance Counselor, (CIC) earning his CIC designation in 1990.
His best advice for everyone else; “Communicate!!  Don’t be afraid to call your agent for anything. It’s their job to lead you down the right path.”
His biggest accomplishment over the course of his career; his family, he’ll tell you. “I am very proud of our three sons. All are engineers! Josh is an electrical engineer; Aaron and Matthew are both aerospace engineers and all graduates of Flandreau High School! And Roxy, of course, for supporting me and encouraging me to start my own agency in 1996. Always by my side,” he said.   
It’s where he’s looking forward to having her still, as they drive away from the old office on Main Street in Flandreau and look for new adventures down the road.