EXHIBIT 99


FOR:  IMMEDIATE RELEASE                  CONTACT:  F. Robert Woudstra
      June 11, 1996                                (616) 956-8218


                 FOREMOST CORPORATION OF AMERICA ANNOUNCES
           COMPLETION OF SALE OF FOREMOST LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY


GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN - Foremost Corporation of America (FOM-NYSE) today
announced completion of the sale of its subsidiary, Foremost Life Insurance
Company, to Woodmen Accident and Life Company, based in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The sale yielded Foremost net after-tax proceeds of approximately
$17.5 million.  Foremost expects to incur an after-tax loss of
approximately $1.1 million on the sale.  Foremost Chief Financial Officer
F. Robert Woudstra said the sale is part of Foremost's ongoing strategy to
divest operations outside property and casualty insurance lines.

A significant portion of the net proceeds from the sale are earmarked to
augment purchases under Foremost's previously announced stock repurchase
program. In February 1994, Foremost's Board of Directors approved a stock
buy back plan for up to one million shares and they increased the program
by 500,000 shares during the first quarter of 1996.  From January 1, 1996
through June 10, 1996, the Company has purchased 193,463 shares of its
common stock outstanding at an average price of $55.30 per share.  Since
the beginning of this buy back plan, the Company has purchased 893,070
shares at an average price of $40.74 per share.

Although Woodmen will change the name of Foremost Life Insurance Company,
they've advised Foremost that they intend to maintain Foremost Life's
current customer and service relationships.

Foremost is the parent corporation for a group of companies principally
engaged in providing property and casualty insurance for manufactured homes
and recreational vehicles.  The Foremost Life Insurance business represents
approximately 5% of the parent company's annual premiums.  Now in its 106th
year, Woodmen describes itself as a financially conservative company with
distribution primarily throughout the midwest and west.  Woodmen offers a
variety of products and services, including individual and group life and
health insurance, annuities, and qualified plans services for the
individual, family, and business markets.  Woodmen holds an A- rating from
A.M. Best, a national insurance rating organization.