Army veteran Tom Britzman remembered the way CalVet stood behind his in-laws when a levee broke and the Feather River flooded their Yuba City home at Christmastime in 1955.

“My (World War I veteran) father-in-law and mother-in-law had four feet of water in their home,” Britzman said. “CalVet took care of getting their house redone.”

Britzman also recalled his own good dealings with CalVet when he financed a home through the agency in Sacramento in the early 1960s. It was one of the 20 homes his family lived in during his long career as an executive with Sears Roebuck, and then with Ortho Mattress before he retired in 1990.

Consequently, when their grown children convinced Tom and Jean Britzman to return to California in 2015, they sold their house in Prescott, Arizona. They found their new home in a subdivision at the old Fort Ord near Monterey, where he spent most of his military career and rose to the rank of sergeant in the 1950s.

Once again – and this time at 85 years old – Britzman thought of CalVet first for financing.

“I am one of their more mature clients, you might say,” Britzman joked.

Mature? CalVet’s Home Loans Program, which soon will celebrate 100 years of helping Californian veterans realize the American dream, existed for less than a decade when he was born in 1930.

He’s 90 now. He and Jean have been married for 70 years. One of their children, daughter Leslie Patronik, lives nearby in the same subdivision as does her son and his wife. Yes, that definitely makes him one of CalVet’s more mature veteran home loans clients.

“He’s always had a soft spot for CalVet,” said Eric Myrdal, CalVet’s loan originator who handled Britzman’s application. It didn’t matter that Britzman was 85 when he secured the 30-year mortgage and would make the final payment when he’s 115.

“We don’t discriminate,” Myrdal said. “They put $300,000 down. It’s a simple estate. It’s a safe investment.” The Britzmans’ impeccable history of home ownership merely simplified the process, Myrdal said. In fact, Britzman might have found a lower interest rate from a commercial lender, but CalVet’s insurance – which offers full replacement value at a low deductible – made the difference, as it has for other veterans.

“Lots of veterans, if it’s even close, they’ll go with Calvet,” Myrdal said. “He (the veteran) likes the insurance.”

Britzman already had seen how it benefitted his in-laws in Yuba City in 1955. He compared their case to hurricane victims on the East Coast who lacked the same kind of coverage and service CalVet offers, and found themselves low-balled by insurance adjusters there.

“No individual had much of a chance against the big corporations,” he said. “The adjustments seemed to be a bit more on the short side.”

Which made him a repeat client with CalVet.

“I wanted to have someone who would take care of me and not shortchange me,” Britzman said. “Someone who would treat me fairly. My experience with CalVet and the State of California has been outstanding.” A sign of maturity, indeed.

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For nearly 100 years CalVet Home Loans has helped veterans build, rebuild, and own homes, and it will continue to do so for well into the future. For more information on obtaining a CalVet home loan, CLICK HERE or call us directly during regular business hours at 866-653-2510, we are happy to help.