Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, Inc.

Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, Inc.. Established 1953. Although Kingfisher, Blaine, and other western Oklahoma counties were enjoying an excellent agriculture economy, in the late 1940's, access to telecommunications had not kept pace for most rural residents. Because the population was not centered in towns, but on farms, it was imperative that access to quality telephone service be improved if continued growth was to occur in those areas., Roy C. Boecher, General Manager of Cimarron Electric Cooperative, questioned why telephone service could not be delivered to consumers through a cooperative. His research revealed there was no legal authorization that would permit the formation of a telephone cooperative, which was required before potential financial assistance could be obtained from the federal government., In 1948, Boecher was elected to the Oklahoma State Senate and in 1952 he authored Senate Bill 1 which officially launched the telephone cooperative industry in Oklahoma. Governor Raymond Gary signed the bill and Pioneer Telephone Cooperative was established in 1952 with 4 exchanges, 4 employees: Roy Boecher, Truman Wood, Charles Davis, and Pat Rivers, and an investment of $50,000 which has grown into a captial investment of almost $250,000,000., The Board of Trustees for Cimarron Electric Cooperative served as the Board of Trustees for Pioneer Telephone Cooperative until 1959 when a separate governing body was formed., Roy Boecher was selected as Pioneer's first General Manager in 1953 and held that position until he became C.E.O. in 1975. Johnnie Ruhi was promoted to General Manager and joined Senator Boecher in providing leadership during the company's continued explosive growth., By the end of its half-century mark, Pioneer Telephone Cooperative had diversified and served the changing needs of its members through a variety of lines of business., The success of the cooperative has been attributed not only to the vision and tenacity of Senator Roy Boecher, who was eventually dubbed a modern-day "Renaissance Man," but also to Johnnie Ruhl who provided day-to-day leadership for 27 years, making tough decisions and building an organization that has become the largest cooperative in the state of Oklahoma and one of the largest in the nation.