Louis F. Marioni Jr.; Former Insurance Firm Executive

Louis F. Marioni Jr., former president and chief executive of Mission Insurance and major force behind Superior National Insurance Group, has died. He was 73.

Marioni died March 22 at his home in Lake Arrowhead.

The executive was with Los Angeles-based Mission Insurance Group Inc. for 23 years, rising to executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1972 and the top positions in November 1983.

During his tenure, Marioni helped build the company into one of the state’s largest and most profitable writers of workers’ compensation insurance, with 2,400 employees operating in all 50 states.

But in early 1984, Mission fell into red ink. Marioni attributed a first-quarter loss of $16 million to “adverse underwriting results,” “rate inadequacies,” unusually high claims frequency and severity in the property and casualty industry.

Then on Feb. 14, 1985, Marioni surprised the industry by abruptly resigning. He stepped down on the eve of the announcement of Mission’s record 1984 net loss of $198.1 million.

Marioni acquired Superior National Insurance Group, then based in Woodland Hills with three employees. As president and chief executive, aided by former Mission chief financial officer Michael Mulholland, he moved Superior to Calabasas and made it into a profitable company. By the time Marioni retired in 1992, Superior had 288 employees, an annual income of $100 million and $150 million in assets.

Born in San Francisco, Marioni served in the Coast Guard before going into the insurance business.

He is survived by his wife, Sandra; six children; 14 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled at 1 p.m. Monday in Lake Arrowhead’s Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church.

The family has asked that memorial contributions be made to Hospice Charity Foundation, c/o Vitas Healthcare, 1845 Business Center Drive Suite 120, San Bernardino, CA 92408, or to a charity of the donor’s choice.