By Wayne Price

    I recently posted a photo from the NREA Annual Meeting on Facebook. It received a comment about our industry being male-dominated. That’s not a false statement so I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of the remarkable women in our industry.
    Lucille Clema began her career in the rural electric utility industry when she was hired to serve as the home editor of the Nebraska Electric Farmer magazine in 1952. She was responsible for writing about the benefits of electricity for women. This included information about new products like electric dishwashers, clothes dryers, stoves, irons, and hair dryers.
    In July 1955 she was named as the publication’s managing editor, a position she held for 14 months before being named editor. She followed her husband, John, in the position of general manager after he resigned in 1956. She was replaced by Dick Wilkerson in 1969.
    During her time at NREA, Clema also served as a chaperone and leader of the Nebraska Youth Tour delegation.
    Lucille also served as the president and vice-president of the National Electric Cooperative Editorial Association in 1966 and 1965, respectively. This association is now known as the Statewide Editors Association (SEA) and I served as its president from 2012 to 2014.
    There are currently four NREA member-systems being led by women general managers. These include Gwen Kautz at Dawson PPD, Barb Fowler at Polk County RPPD, Lacey Gulbranson at Wheat Belt PPD, and Shawna Glendy at Niobrara Electric. Twelve of our member-systems have a woman serving on their board of directors.