February 9, 1980

Clyde Ellis of Garfield (Benton County) died. He served in both houses of the state legislature and was the United States representative for the Third District from 1939 to 1943. Ellis vigorously promoted the cause of rural electric co-ops and was the first general manager of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, a New Deal agency designed to bring electricity to rural America. He was widely seen as the greatest advocate of rural electrification in the United States.