Doug Hobby
The puzzle:
D _ _ G
H _ B B Y
The clue: It’s a Mutual Claims Service Supervisor who is also a former “Wheel of Fortune” contestant.
We’ll save you the trouble of shelling out for a vowel.
The answer is Doug Hobby.
Game time
Hobby and his spouse, Tracy, auditioned for the “Wheel of Fortune” game show during a 2012 Mother’s Day trip to Branson, Mo.
They were two of the thousands of people at the “Wheel Mobile,” but neither of their names was selected. Two weeks later, the show’s producers called and said they’d like Doug to come back. He suspects it’s because they were intrigued by his answer to the question, “What makes you unique?”
His answer: “When I was in college, I used to act stupid and walk around like an orangutan.”
Whether or not that answer was the reason he was selected (we’d like to think it was), Hobby was invited back to Branson and put through the paces of auditioning before being chosen as a contestant on the show. He had an unusual game strategy: Wait until all letters had been flipped on the board before giving his answer to the puzzle. He ended up in second place; after flights and vacationing, he estimates that he broke even — and has memories that last a lifetime.
Work time
Even if Hobby isn’t living large on his winnings, he has a career in insurance to fall back on and is devoted to helping others. “It’s why I got into this business,” he says.
Before joining Grinnell Mutual, Hobby owned an independent adjusting company. In 2005, Hobby was on the ground in New Orleans, adjusting claims after Hurricane Katrina. Seeing the devastation first-hand was life-changing.
“There were no hotels available and another adjuster and I had to stay in a camper. We were dodging stranded vehicles in the middle of the interstate that first day,” Hobby said.
That experience fueled Hobby’s passion for helping others and made him a better adjuster. “It was so nice to be able to help those people.”
He appreciates that such a big part of Grinnell Mutual’s culture centers around helping others, especially people in rural communities like the one where he grew up, in west-central Illinois. He was promoted to supervisor earlier in 2021, and now leads a team of eight.
“I’m now overseeing these guys whose shoes I was in not too long ago myself,” Hobby said. “I can go to bat for them because I know what’s it’s like from when I needed someone to go to bat for me. I have a great group of guys. Every one of them is wonderful.”
Hobby even helps out in the field when someone needs time off or if things get busy.
When he’s not working or taking a star turn on television (or walking like an orangutan), Hobby practices life as an empty-nester with Tracy. Their two children, Kelsey, 24 and Riley, a college senior, have moved out, leaving only their 12-year-old cat, Boots, at home.
While they’ve hung up their game-show hats, the couple manages to occupy themselves as ordinary folks do — boating at the Lake of the Ozarks in the summer, volunteering at their church, and taking walks together. And taking care of Boots of course. The cat seems uninterested in moving out.
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