(Please scroll down)
|
(Please scroll down) |
|
|
2010 Person of the Year- Norman White
Norman White was honored as the SDEC person of the year at the 2010 Annual Conference.
Norman White Norman was born on December 24, 1932 to Benjamin and Leona (Kostboth) White at Canistota, South Dakota. He grew up in the Canistota area and graduated from Canistota High School in 1950. Following High School he attended South Dakota State College for two years.
On June 13, 1952 he married Bonnie Tarrell in Canistota. The first sixteen years of their marriage was spent on a farm northwest of Canistota. In the spring of 1967 Norman went to Manpower Training School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where he studied electricity, refrigeration and repair of appliances. In 1968 he had a farm sale and moved to Bison, South Dakota where Norman had taken a job with Grand Electric Company.
In 1969 they returned to Canistota, South Dakota and Norman started a job at AMPI in Freeman, South Dakota as a field repair serviceman. In 1972, Norman started his own business in Canistota called White’s Electric which he ran until his death in September of 2009. He also taught the Electric Program at Mitchell Tech in Mitchell, South Dakota for one semester and he was employed at Stewarts in Sioux Falls, South Dakota as a Mechanical tech for five years and did a number of Mission projects, including work at the Rosebud Christian Center.
Norman was a charter member of the Sioux Empire RSE & IAEI. He served on the Canistota School Board and was a member of Zion Lutheran Church and served on the board. He was a 4-H Leader and member of the Lion Club, Farmers Union and Volunteer Fire Department and he was a former Boy Scout Leader. He was member of the SD Electrical Council and the SD Plumbing Associations.
He enjoyed spending time with his family, going to auctions and gardening.
2009 Person of the Year- Jerry Freeman
Jerry Freeman was named SDEC person of the year at the 2009 Annual Conference. Mike Sprang SDEC Chairman of Person of the Year Committee on the right presented the Award to Jerry Freeman at the 2009 SDEC Conference.
Gerald “Jerry” Freeman
Born July 17th, 1949 the seventh child of Tom and Agnes Freeman in Rapid City, SD. Jerry grew up and attended school in Rapid City graduating from Rapid City High School in 1967. Following High School he attended Black Hills State College while working part-time for Baumgartner’s Electric and Slaughter Electric. In November of 1969 he started working full time for Electric Service later changed to Freeman’s Electric the company his father founded which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. In 1973 he completed the Electrical Contractors of South Dakota’s four year journeyman training course. In 1975 Jerry moved to Loveland, Colorado where he worked for Canyon Valley Electric as a journeyman electrician. Two years later he co-founded Thomas Electric Inc. where Jerry bid and worked on several projects in Colorado. On August 2, 1980 Jerry married Annette Robinson. The couple continued to live and work in Loveland until March of 1984 when they decided to move back to Rapid City to work in the family business owned by his father and brothers, Joe and Bob. In 1997 he became part owner of Freeman’s Electric Service along with his present partners, Marty Larson and Steve Struble. Jerry has served the industry of his profession: He has served on both boards of the SDEC and B.H. Chapter for over 10 years and was one of the original Board members of the Black Hills Chapter and was president 1995. In 1996 Jerry served as the president of the state SDEC. His family has always played an active role on the SDEC. Since its inception his father Tom, brothers Joe and Bob have all served on the State board. His Dad and Brothers meant a great deal to Jerry and they all believed in giving back to the industry. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Construction Industry Center in Rapid City. He has been a member of the Elks Lodge for 28 yrs. As a child he began hunting at the family cabin in the dead of winter and enjoying sports on the little league baseball diamond in the heat of summer. He has supported, played and coached baseball and softball for many years. Jerry has bowled for over forty years including a 300 game on March 13. 1990. His real passion now is golf playing any time he gets the chance. He recorded a Hole-In-One in September 19,1998. How many people can say they’ve had a Hole In One and a 300 game? Jerry’s proud to say I can! 2008 Person of the Year- Harold Kortum
Harold Kortum was born and raised on a ranch southwest of Presho, South Dakota where he attended High School. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps where he served during the Korean War. On his return to South Dakota, he married and moved to Columbia Falls, Montana. He was employed by Plum Creek Lumber Company as an Apprentice Electrician. He attended classes and training with the Electrical Workers Union at the Aluminum Plant near Columbia Falls. After several years of working at Plum Creek, he returned to South Dakota and the family farm. He raised four children and worked in the winter months as an Electrician. He then moved to Pierre, South Dakota where he worked for Mid Dakota Electric and Ferding Electric. In 1978, he began employment with the South Dakota Electrical Commission. He inspected in the Western fourth of South Dakota and in the early 1980’s he had an area from Lemmon to Martin to the Wyoming border. He has lived in Custer, South Dakota since his employment with the State. Harold’s philosophy with inspections was if he could not give you a reason for a code requirement you would, you have to do it. His advice to new inspectors was you had to be able to go in a homeowner wired house that was all wired wrong and before you left everything will be done right and the owner will think it was their idea. Harold considered himself an electrician’s inspector because he learned everything about wiring by doing it. He also tried to get electricians to take pride in their work and complimented then, when they did.
2007 Person of the Year - Tom Kelly
Thomas Allen Kelly was born June 29, 1950 in Linton, North Dakota to Edward and Hermina Kelly. He was the third oldest of nine children. When Tom was six the family moved to Aberdeen, and he has resided here since then. Tom graduated from Roncalli High School and attended Northern State University before moving to Mitchell to attend Mitchell Area Vocational Technical School. There he received his training as an electrician and graduated in 1973. In 1974, he married Winnie Schumacher and together they have raised four sons, Ryan, Ross, Paul, and Travis (deceased). Tom began his career as an electrician working for Mac's Electric. He went on to work for Schwan Electric, and in 1979 started his own business, Kelly Electric. He had this business for over ten years. In 1980 he started working for 3M in Aberdeen and is presently still there as a maintenance technician. He graduated from NSU with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology in 1999, and since then has worked part time as an electrical inspector helping Dan Larson in District Six. Tom is a member of St. Mary's Church. He has volunteered many hours for Habitat for Humanity and his church. He has been an active member of the SD Electrical Council, Hub Area Chapter, for many years. He is a member of the International Association of Electrical Inspectors.
2006 Person of the Year - Terry Kos |
 |
Each year, SDEC honors an individual in the SD Electrical Industry. In 2004, the Honoree was Robert "Bob" Rademacher. |
| Congratulations Bob! |
Robert "Bob" Rademacher has been employed by Dakota Energy Cooperative, Inc., Huron, formerly Beadle Electric Cooperative, since 1972. He has served as CEO since 1983. He also was employed by Rosebud Electric, Gregory and the South Dakota Rural Electric Association, Pierre.
He was a licensed electrician for many years and run the wiring department at
Beadle Electric. He was a certified electric heat installer and estimator and a
certified energy conversion specialist.
He has served as a board member of the South Dakota Electric Council and was
co-chairman of several South Dakota Electric Councils annual conventions.
He has served as a president of South Dakota Rural Electric's Member Services
Association and the South Dakota Rural Electric's Manager's Association.
He has served as chairman of the East River Electric Power Cooperative Managers
for three years and served on the Basin Electric Power Cooperative Manager's
advisor committee for three years. He presently serves on the board of the Rural
Electric Economic Development, Inc. and the Cooperative Service Alliance both
headquartered in Madison, South Dakota.
Nationally, Rademacher has served on various rural electric committees and as a
board member of Federated Rural Electric Insurance, Inc.
Locally he has served as a board member of the Huron School Board, the Community
Council Board, the Norwest Bank Community Board, the Habitat for Humanity Board,
the Huron Safety Council, the Huron Historic Area and the Huron Chamber of
Commerce. In many of these he served as the chairman.
He presently serves on the board of the Center of Independence and its
foundation board. He also serves on the board of the Greater Huron Economic
Development Corporation.
He is a member of the American Lutheran Church, Huron, the Huron Masonic Lodge and the El Raid Shriners.
Rademacher and his wife, Jean, have a daughter, Rhonda that lives near Letcher,
South Dakota, and a son, Ryan that lives in Zurich, Switzerland. They have two
grandchildren.
|
NEWS FLASH: Now you can pay your annual membership dues online! Go to the Member App page to pay with PayPal or a credit card today.
Send mail to
webmaster@aetech.com (website:
aetech.com ) with questions or
comments about this web site.
|
gen