Tom Cusick
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Thomas Patrick Cusick Jr. (born February 13, 1953) is a businessman, rancher, and
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
land developer. He and
George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...
purchased and developed Tapatio Springs Resort and Golf Course (
Boerne, Texas Boerne ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kendall County, Texas, in the Texas Hill Country. Boerne is known for its German-Texan history, named in honor of German author and satirist Ludwig Börne by the German Founders of the town. The popu ...
).


Early life

Thomas Patrick Cusick, Jr., was born on February 13, 1953, to Thomas Patrick Cusick and Ann Leath Cusick in
Sheridan, Wyoming Sheridan is a town in the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Sheridan County. The town is located halfway between Yellowstone Park and Mount Rushmore by U.S. Route 14 and 16. It is the principal town of the Sheridan, Wyoming, Micropol ...
. A
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
veteran, Cusick's father won the silver belt buckle for
bulldogging Steer wrestling, also known as bulldogging, is a rodeo event in which a horse-mounted rider chases a steer, drops from the horse to the steer, then wrestles the steer to the ground by grabbing its horns and pulling it off-balance so that it falls ...
at the
Gillette, Wyoming Gillette (, '' jih-LET'') is a city in and the county seat of Campbell County, Wyoming, United States. The town was founded in 1891 as a major railway town on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The population was estimated at 32,030 a ...
Rodeo in 1949. He later became an oil drilling rig worker, then worked in the insurance business until his retirement. Cusick was drafted out of high school by the
Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...
, but chose to accept a scholarship to play football at the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...
. He later opted for a baseball scholarship at
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, and subsequently earned a BBA in Accounting at UTSA.


Business

Cusick formed Benefit Planners (BPI), Inc., a third-party insurance administrator company, after leaving
Aetna Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...
in 1982. BPI was ranked nationally in the top 10 health benefit administrators along with
United Healthcare UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is an American multinational managed healthcare and insurance company based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. It offers health care products and insurance services. UnitedHealth Group is the world's seventh largest c ...
, Blue Cross, and
CIGNA Cigna is an American multinational managed healthcare and insurance company based in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Its insurance subsidiaries are major providers of medical, dental, disability, life and accident insurance and related products and se ...
. During this time, Cusick also formed The Preferred Health Arrangement, a Preferred Provider Organization and National Stop Loss Associates, a broker for re-insurance and other excess lines. In 1995, BP Risk Management was formed to provide employee benefit needs by handling workers compensation. In 1996 Cusick was honored as Entrepreneur of the Year in the service category and, in 2002, Benefit Planners was named the #1 Call Center of the Year in Central Texas, topping
USAA The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) is a San Antonio-based Fortune 500 diversified financial services group of companies including a Texas Department of Insurance-regulated reciprocal inter-insurance exchange and subsidiaries offeri ...
and
Southwestern Bell Southwestern Bell Telephone Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T. It does business as other d.b.a. names in its operating region, which includes Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and portions of Illinois. The company is cu ...
(now
AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
). In 2001, Cusick sold Benefit Planners and affiliates to
Fiserv Fiserv, Inc. () is an American multinational company headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin that provides financial technology services to clients across the financial services sector, including: banks, thrifts, credit unions, securities broker ...
, and remained with the company until 2003. In 2003, Cusick purchased 1,000 acres of land, and parceled "Estancia at Thunder Valley" into 65 homesites, what he termed "the perfect community to raise a family in. Cusick and Strait created the charity Vaqueros Del Mar ("Cowboys of the Sea") to raise money to benefit returning wounded servicemen and servicewomen and their families. Since 2012, Cusick, Strait, and
David Feherty David William Feherty (born 13 August 1958) is a former professional golfer and current golf broadcaster. As a touring professional he won five European Tour events, competed at the Open Championship twice ( 1989 and 1994), and played on Europe ...
have hosted a celebrity golf tournament and concert to benefit Feherty's Troops First Foundation; attendees and performers have included Strait,
Asleep at the Wheel Asleep at the Wheel is an American Western swing group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception, released over twenty albums, and has charted more t ...
,
Jamey Johnson Jamey Johnson (born July 14, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to BNA Records in 2005, Johnson made his debut with his single " The Dollar", the title track to his 2006 album '' The Dollar''. He was dropped from ...
, Jewel,
Ray Benson Ray Benson (born Ray Benson Seifert, March 16, 1951 - October 31st 2022) i Western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the Western United States, West and Southern United St ...
,
James Burrows James Edward Burrows (born December 30, 1940), sometimes known as Jim "Jimmy" Burrows, is an American television director who has been working in television since the 1970s.Stated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio'' Burrows has direct ...
, and
Dean Dillon Dean Dillon (born Larry Dean Flynn; March 26, 1955) is an American country musician and songwriter. Between 1982 and 1993, he recorded six studio albums on various labels, and charted several singles on the '' Billboard'' country charts. Since 1 ...
. In April 2017, Cusick, Strait, and Medal of Honor recipient
Leroy Petry Leroy Arthur Petry (born July 29, 1979) is a retired United States Army soldier. He received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in Afghanistan in 2008 during Operation Enduring Freedom. Born in Santa ...
opened the Leroy Petry Village of Honor (
Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...
), built with funds raised by Vaqueros Del Mar and Troops First.


References


External links

*
Tapatio Springs Resort
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cusick, Thomas P. 1953 births Living people People from Boerne, Texas People from Sheridan, Wyoming Ranchers from Texas University of Texas at San Antonio alumni