Basin Electric original incorporator John Irving
John Irving was elected treasurer of “Giant Power Cooperative” on Oct. 4, 1960.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
- September 16, 2011
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| John Irving |
John Charles Irving was born July 20, 1901, on a farm five miles north of Mount Ayr, IA, which remained his home for his entire life. He was the youngest son of John A. Irving and Victoria (Bastow) Irving. His older brothers were Edmund (Ned) and George Irving. He attended the Amity and Eureka ruraI schools and then transferred to the Mount Ayr schools in the eighth grade.
He graduated from Mount Ayr High School with the class of 1919. After high school, he attended Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, IA. In 1923, he began operating the family farm with his brother Ned.
In 1933, he married Florence Juergens, who had come to Mount Ayr four years earlier to teach English and dramatics in the high school. They had one daughter, Anna Lynn. John and Florence enjoyed their life on the farm and the activities of the community.
He began his work in rural electrification in the early 1940s when a few interested farmers began meeting to organize a cooperative. After many hours of work and meetings, the Rideta Electric Cooperative received its Certificate of Incorporation from the State of Iowa in September 1940. He served on the Rideta board of directors for 40 years. In 1941 the Southwestern Federated Power Cooperative was organized by Rideta and four neighboring cooperatives. Irving was also a charter director on the Southwestern Federated board at Creston, IA, until 1968.* It was during his service to the Rideta and Southwestern Federated that he became an incorporator of Basin Electric on May 5, 1961. He was elected treasurer of the board of the directors of the organization that immediately preceded Basin Electric named “Giant Power Cooperative” on Oct. 4, 1960. He also served as the president of the Iowa REC News board for 24 years. He retired from the Rideta** board on Jan. 1, 1981, the last of the original board members.
He worked with the Farm Purchase Tenant Plan, a group that helped farm tenants purchase farms and farm owners to save their farms in the 1930s. He raised mules and horses for income and also to show at fairs. His show mules were well known in Iowa and Missouri. Meeting old friends at state and county fairs was always a part of late summer. He served on the Ringgold County Fair Board for many years.
Irving died June 1, 1994, in Des Moines, IA.
*Southwestern Federated merged with Central Iowa Power Cooperative in 1968.
**Rideta consolidated with Southwest Iowa Service Cooperative (the cooperative offices in Stanton and Corning) in 2004 to become Southwest Iowa REC.
(A special thank you goes to John’s daughter Ann Bevington, and Wendy Wimer at Southwest Iowa REC, for providing the information for this profile.)
On May 5, 1961, 69 people from several states gathered at the Patterson Hotel in Bismarck, ND, to sign Articles of Incorporation for Basin Electric. Their names are on a brass plaque immediately outside of the main entrance to the Headquarters building. Kathi Risch, Basin Electric senior staff writer/editor, has been seeking information about the original incorporators and compiling these profiles.
In the next several months, prior to the cooperative’s 50th anniversary celebration to be held at the 2011 annual meeting on Nov. 9, Risch will share what she has uncovered. If you have information you would like to share about a Basin Electric original incorporator and you haven’t been contacted, please call Risch at 701-557-5606 or send information, photo scans, etc. to krisch@bepc.com.
See all the original incorporators profiled to date.
Headquarters
1717 East Interstate Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58503-0564 USA
Phone: 701.223.0441
Basin Electric Power Cooperative will provide cost-effective wholesale energy along with products and services that support and unite rural America.
