Many may not expect to find the words "generosity" and "insurance company" in the same sentence.

But employees at Gloucester's Carroll K. Steele Insurance Agency think the generosity of their firm extends far beyond any stereotypes.

Angela Rich, a Carroll Steele bookkeeper, tells of how company owner Stephen Dexter has personally went out of his way to make life easy for her — at a time when her multiple sclerosis was making her life harder.

Rich — 60, and a life resident of Gloucester — was diagnosed with MS in 1991, and she was not helped any by having a weak left side. While her disease has not disabled her to the point that she needs a wheelchair, she does need to walk with a cane and a brace on each leg. And while able to move independently, over the last two years she has found it increasing difficult to use the stairs in her office to reach the basement restroom.

Concerned about her, Dexter would ask if she needed help on the stairs. She would reply that she was fine.

"It was the only time I really got exercise with my legs," she said yesterday.

Last year, Dexter received an information package from the Stannah Group, a British company that manufactures stair lifts. Dexter again asked her if she needed any help. She stuck to her reply that she needed the exercise.

However, he had noticed that she was having even more difficulty with the stairs.

"So I said, 'Well, I oughta do this for Angela,'" Dexter said. "And I just did it just like anyone else would have done."

Then, said Rich, "About a month and a half ago he surprised me with the stair lift."

When Dexter showed her the quote for the lift, which was more than $10,000, she said it was too much money. "Too late," he told her. "I already signed the papers."

"But the stair lift kind of brought it over the top," said Rich, who was brought to tears by the gesture.

That acquisition is the latest in a series of steps Dexter has undertaken to help Rich continue on the job.

Two years ago, the company needed to repave its parking lot, and when painting the lines, Dexter said he wanted to reserve a space for Rich. The workers suggested that they paint a handicap sign on her usual spot beside the front door. Wanting to preserve her dignity, however, Dexter had a different idea.

The next day, Rich drove into her space as she usually does and, while she saw something new painted on the surface of her parking space. She did not notice what it was, but when she walked inside the office, she said that Dexter had a big grin on his face.

"Did you see your name?" he asked her.

When she saw her name painted on her parking spot, Dexter said, she exclaimed, "Oh my God, what's that?"

"It was her name — that's what it is," Dexter noted yesterday.

Before Dexter had Rich's name painted on her parking spot, he had a railing installed outside the door to help her.

He said any or all of these steps aren't solely geared toward Rich; he hopes it delivers the message of the importance of working with disabled people in general.

"She is an ace No. 1 bookkeeper," he said of Rich, who has been with the company for 20 years. She is so good with the books, he said, that nothing gets past her. Nobody at the company spends a dime more than they should because of her, he said — not even him.

Dexter admits that he is not without selfish motive; Dexter said that he would hate to lose Rich due to disability. Moreover, said Dexter, she wants to work — and he wants to help her continue to do so.

"He's been a very generous boss," said Rich. "He is to all of us here."

Michael Farrell can be reached at gt—reporter@gloucestertimes.com