58

THE KANSAS LIFELINE

July 2018

Edgar Peck, 

Elliott Insurance Group

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HE

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ONGER

A

WARD

KRWA’s highest honor, The Conger

Award, was presented to Edgard Peck,

of the Elliott Insurance Group.

Ed began his insurance career in

1963 as a building inspector and fire

rater with the Kansas Inspection

Bureau. After 22 years of involvement

with another insurance agency, he

joined forces and created a new agency.

It was his position on the local water

district where he served in all offices,

that he saw the need for a stable

property, casualty and directors and

officers’ insurance program. He

proceeded to develop a safety dividend

insurance plan for water districts which

was underwritten by Employers Mutual

Companies. With the endorsement of

the Kansas Rural Water Association,

nearly 250 water districts participate

and have benefited from the safety

dividend program that has returned 

five percent to 27.2 percent since 1994.

As of March 30, 2018, the program

will have returned $6.1 million to

water districts in Kansas.

Anyone who knows Ed knows he is

a person who is of consistent integrity,

never putting himself in front of

anyone else.

In addition to his work on behalf of

rural water districts, Ed has served as

Treasurer of the Tecumseh Township

and board member of the Topeka-

Tecumseh Fire District as well as being

involved in church and many

community affairs. All that is in

addition to his own farming operation.

His firm, Anderson Peck and now

Elliott Insurance Group, has been an

active supporter of KRWA and has

helped sponsor events and donated

many prizes at annual conferences.

The Conger Award was established

in 1980 to recognize persons who have

made extraordinary contributions to the

Association’s members and others. The

Award is in honor of the first President

of the Association’s board of directors,

Carl Conger of Iola, Kansas.

Lane Letourneau, 

Kansas Dept. of Agriculture,

Division of Water Resources

F

RIENDOF

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URAL

W

ATER

A

WARD

The Kansas Rural Water Association

presented a “Friend of Rural Water

Award” to Lane Letourneau, Kansas

Department of Agriculture, Division of

Water Resources.

Lane can readily be described as a

“Fine Kansan” because he has devoted

more than 30 years to public service

with the State of Kansas. He graduated

from Fort Hays State University in

1983 with a degree in Geology, where

he was Geology Club President. He

then worked in the oil patch as a

Logging Engineer for three and a half

years with Great Guns Petroleum. In

June of 1987, he accepted a position at

the Kansas State Board of Agriculture’s

Division of Water Resources where he

implemented their water use reporting

program. He became the Water

Appropriation Program Manager at the

Division in 2006

For the past several years, Lane has

been a key player at the agency to help

develop and implement the Governor’s

Water Vision, a 50-year water plan

primarily aimed at finding ways to

conserve the Ogallala Aquifer. He has a

reputation for being an even-handed

regulator, treating water users fairly

and equally.

Lane has attended each of the past 30

KRWA conferences, representing the

agency. Inside and outside of work

Lane enjoys telling jokes. In his spare

time, he enjoys hunting and fishing,

helping his in-laws on their farm and

spending time with his family –his

wife Penny and daughter Lakin.

Award Winners