The Center for Rural Affairs family lost two of its best last month with the passing of Art May of Winnebago and Kris Rogge of Johnson.

Art was the last serving charter member of the Center board, which he helped to found 36 years ago. We recognized Art’s lifetime service to rural America with our Seventh Generation Award last February. Art led economic development on Nebraska’s three Indian Reservations for over a decade and went on to spend the better part of the last 20 years providing technical assistance on water and sewer problems to small town governments across the Great Plains.

 

Kris Rogge was elected to the Center’s board in 2005, after returning home from several decades in Washington, D.C. In Washington, Kris worked on mental retardation and developmental disability issues. Back in Johnson, she was active in small business development, rural Internet access, the Nemaha County Foundation, the Nemaha County Development Alliance and the Nebraska Library Commission, in addition to the Center board.