Contact: Priscilla Knight, 703-392-1580, pknight@novec.com
MANASSAS, VIRGINIA -- Leonard L. Lonas Jr. has retired as the Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) board of directors’ attorney after 51 years of service. NOVEC’s board of directors recognized Lonas’ many contributions and his dedication at its December 2006 meeting. During his long tenure, Lonas made sure the Cooperative followed the letter of the law as it grew from serving approximately 3,798 members in 1955 to more than 135,000 members today.
Born and raised in Manassas, Virginia, Lonas graduated from Manassas City’s Osbourn High School in 1940. He attended the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) for three years until his urge to serve his country during World War II took him to Okinawa, Japan, with the U.S. Army artillery. He describes the fighting they did and saw as horrific.
After the war, Lonas took off his Army captain’s uniform and put on his VMI cadet’s uniform again to finish his undergraduate work. He graduated in 1947. Lonas graduated from George Washington University law school in 1951 and opened his law practice in Manassas as a self-proclaimed “country lawyer.” At the time, only four attorneys practiced law in Prince William County.
In 1955, the Cooperative’s board of directors hired Lonas. In addition to his regular law practice work, Lonas began handling all of the Co-op’s legal duties, from annual meeting proceedings to Rural Electric Administration (REA) loans for building the Cooperative’s infrastructure.
Lonas said the most complicated task during his tenure was overseeing the merger of Prince William Electric Cooperative and Tri-County Electric Cooperative to form NOVEC on January 1, 1983. He said, “The board had to get more than 50 percent of the members from both cooperatives to approve the merger. That was a huge job.”
Lonas said, “Being attorney for the Co-op has been the highlight of my legal career. I consider the staff and board members as my friends.”
One of Lonas’ best friends is Board Chairman J. Manley Garber, who has served on the Co-op’s board since 1950. Garber expressed his admiration of Lonas: “Leonard established an excellent working relationship between the board and management. He is one of the most honorable and upright individuals I know.”
The admiration has been mutual. Lonas said, “All of the board members looked after members’ interests. They worked hard to keep power costs low.”
Lonas’ memories include several annual meetings. He said, “one of the best meetings was in the late ’50s or early ’60s when Patsy Cline sang. She was just getting started as a musician and was a huge hit with the members.” He remembers the sheriff’s department coming, too: “We used to hold the annual meetings outdoors behind the Manassas building. Some of the neighbors didn’t like all the noise we made and called the sheriff’s office. They would come and tell me to wrap up things. I would say, ‘Let me just get through a few more votes.’ We got along well with the sheriff and his deputies.”
Lonas and his wife, Edna Jo, formerly a travel agent, have retired to their Purcellville ranch, which overlooks the Blue Ridge Mountains. Lonas raises about 30 head of Hereford cattle and two bulls. He enjoys reading and being a country gentleman farmer.
NOVEC is a not-for-profit corporation that distributes electricity and energy services to more than 135,000 customers in Northern Virginia, making it one of the largest electric distribution cooperatives in the nation. For more information, call 703-335-0500 or go to www.novec.com.
Leonard Lonas
