Calvert County Director John W. Williams, Jr., is retiring from Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative's (SMECO) Board after serving as a director for 48 years. His retirement takes effect in January 2006.
Williams was elected to SMECO's Board of Directors in 1958. He became assistant secretary-treasurer in 1964 and was elected secretary-treasurer in 1965, serving in that capacity until 2004. During his time on the board, Williams has seen tremendous growth in Southern Maryland and particularly in his home county of Calvert. His tenure has also seen SMECO grow from a small rural electric utility into one of the largest cooperatives in the nation.
Williams also served on the board of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) from 1976 to 1993. He served a term as NRECA Board president, becoming the first SMECO Director to hold that post. He also served as president of two other utility organizations, the Action Committee for Rural Electrification (ACRE) and the Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives (VMDAEC).
A graduate of Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, Williams served in the U.S. Navy in World War II. He is a retired president of Mutual Fire Insurance Company in Calvert County and a former board member of the company's board of directors. He is a past board member of Federated Rural Insurance Exchange, and past board member of the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation. He is also a past board member of Asbury-Solomons and the Asbury Foundation.