Many people head into retirement not really knowing what their future will look like. Perry Wellman’s not one of them.
“I bike and shoot pool and meet people,” Wellman says. “I’m really looking forward to being me; retirement sounds like fun to me.”
Wellman retired from Community Electric in early April, having spent more than 40 years serving member-owners at rural electric cooperatives in Virginia and New York. He joined CEC in 1989 as a journeyman lineman. For the vast majority of his nearly 35 years here, he worked as a meter and apparatus technician, achieving the position of chief technician around the year 2000.
In that capacity, he has performed the wiring on countless meters, generators, and other electrical systems, often making installations for linemen in the field less difficult. For the past several months, he and his team have wired CEC’s new Copeland substation to help make the larger distribution system more efficient and resilient.
“By far, I’ve got the best job at this co-op,” Wellman said in late March. “To me, there’s not a better job out there than what I’ve got. It’s interesting work, and every day can be a different plan.”
Wellman says his aching shoulders – pulling bundles of four-aught diameter wires through lengthy stretches of three- and four-inch pipes takes its toll – are among the signs that it’s time to bid farewell to the work he has enjoyed so much. His efforts have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated, however.
“Perry is a great person who does not cut corners and does the job right,” says Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Thompson. “His attention to detail and continued effort to learn new things and ways to work better and more efficiently are unmatched. Words alone are hard to fully express Perry's impact to the cooperative. He is simply the most dependable person here.”
Lead Lineman Jonathan Powell, whose career has overlapped with Wellman’s for the past 19 years, says his colleague’s expertise has made work on an array of projects – from meter installations to power restorations to configurations on transformer banks – go more smoothly and safely.
“I’d tell anybody, if they had questions about how to do something, they would be wise to listen to Perry. He is very intelligent about what he does. If you were in the field and had questions, you were able to call him any time you needed to and he could talk you through the situation,” Powell says. “He’s a super-great person who would do anything for you.”
Powell says he’s doubly impressed by Wellman’s execution of retirement planning. “He’s the only person I know of who said he was going to retire at a certain time, and he’s doing it.”
Wellman says his 34-plus years at Community Electric “have gone like a heartbeat.” He joined CEC in the summer of 1989 after working seven years at the Steuben Rural Electric Cooperative in western New York. He speaks fondly of the time he has spent with Community Electric, saying, “I would not have been able to do this job without the people here. I lean on a lot of people, and they do everything above and beyond. When someone asks for help, you drop everything and help them because you know you’ll ask them at some point.”
Nonetheless, Wellman eagerly anticipates returning to the New York countryside where he grew up on his family’s farm. He is an avid woodworker, and a few years ago he bought a motorcycle (his “bike”) to return to a hobby he
had given up for many years while his two daughters were growing up. He also plans to spend time traveling in his RV – something his family has done for decades – and he’ll get into a local billiards league as well. He is an accomplished billiards player who twice has earned his way to national competitions in Las Vegas.
“I have fun,” Wellman says. “I stay busy, and it’s fun to meet people. I’ll have the chance to shoot pool in New York and meet new people. That’s priceless.”