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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

One of the oldest businesses in Chilton County is closing its doors in downtown Clanton. Moore’s Insurance, which was opened in 1966 by Louie and Rebecca Moore, closed on Sept. 29 after 57 years of business.

Diane Thomas, the Moore’s daughter, has been running the business since the 1990s. However, she began working around the store as early as age 13 cleaning windows and emptying garbage cans, working her way up from the bottom to the owner of the family business.

“I was really interested in (insurance), and you have to have insurance in your blood to really enjoy it,” Thomas said. “I have a younger brother and sister, and they were not interested. When I moved back here I said I would come in here to work. They made me start at the bottom and work my way up, and when daddy retired in the late 1990s I took it over from him.”

Thomas has seen a lot of change in Clanton since Moore’s Insurance’s doors opened in the 1960s, but they have all been for the good.

“There was a time where you might only have a couple of insurance agents (in town),” Thomas said. “Now, we have them on every street corner, and we need them. I do not want Clanton to grow too big, but I like it the way it is now.”

Thomas is selling Moore’s Insurance to Shane Headley Insurance, and Headley will bring in all of Moore’s customers under their roof at 207 Sixth St. N, Clanton.

When Thomas got to retirement age she began having thoughts of stepping away from the family business. She had other family members who were insurance agents recommend that she step away from it as well, and she finally decided it was time to stay home for a while.

“I have been at it for over 40 years,” Thomas said. “I am going to miss it, and I told Shane (Headley) ‘These are my people.’ I felt like Shane would be a great person to take over for me. He will probably have to run me off because I am going to come in a few days a week at the beginning to help the transition. It will be hard for me to step aside.”

Thomas said she is looking forward to sleeping in her first week of retirement, and she plans to do some traveling with her husband after he retires at the beginning of 2024.