Co-op mourns loss of trustee

Clay Electric Cooperative said that Carl Hagglund, a member of the co-op’s board of trustees since 2013, passed away on Saturday, October 22, at the age of 82.

The co-op said in a news release that Hagglund, a resident of Keystone Heights, represented Clay Electric members in District 1, which encompasses portions of Clay and Putnam counties.

“When he was elected,” the co-op said, “he listed his family and church as his main areas of involvement.”

Hagglund served as president of Clay Electric’s board in 2019. The following year, he earned the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Director Gold Credential Certification, the highest level of achievement in NRECA’s director certificate programs.

“As a trustee, Mr. Hagglund attended many of the check presentations for Operation Round Up,” the co-op said. “He also frequently attended the annual legislative cookout in Tallahassee. Employees often saw him at retirement gatherings as well.”

The utility added that Hagglund was also a Clay Electric retiree, beginning his career at the co-op in 1958 as a groundman.

“One year later, he was promoted to lineman,” the co-op said. “Other positions he held were utility serviceman, breaker maintenance, meter and OCR repairman, utility service equipment repairman and substation foreman.”

For 27 years, until his retirement in 2007, Hagglund was a substation maintenance foreman. At the time of his retirement, he had the most years of service among any active employee with 49 years.

Survivors include his wife, Pat; four children; and eight grandchildren.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hagglund family,” said Ricky Davis, Clay Electric’s general manager/CEO. “Carl was a very active and valued member of the board of trustees for the past nine years and an involved retiree before that. No one loved Clay Electric more than Carl.”