2013 Hall of Fame
Dilton E. Haddock
Dilton E. “Dick” Haddock spent 32 years serving the North Carolina electric public utility industry as a lineman, mentor, and safety advisor. He began his career in 1955 as a lineman with Greenville Utilities Commission (GUC). Dick was a charter member of the Safety and Training Committee for the North Carolina Association of Municipal Electric Systems (NCAMES). His committee wrote the safety manual introduced in 1974 and Dick was also involved in developing the 3rd edition of the safety manual released in 1983. He also taught many courses offered through NCAMES, training countless linemen both for GUC and throughout North Carolina. Dick retired from GUC in 1988, but has remained active in the trade through his own electrical contracting business, which he still runs today.
Kenneth J. Bilek
Kenneth J Bilek worked as a lineman for Pennsylvania Electric Company for 21 years. In 1992 he became a Live Line Demonstrator for the A.B. Chance Company, where he worked for five years both in and out of the US. Ken then went on to work as Job Safety and Training Specialist for Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association before starting his own business, Global Live Line, Inc, in 1999. His work in technical training and consulting has taken him to 38 states and 22 countries. His love of the trade and respect for fellow linemen prompted Ken to find the Global Power Line Academy (GPLA) in 2010. The school was licensed by the state within two years and opened to the public in April 2013. 2013 also brought a partnership with Venango College of Clarion University, which allowed students to earn an associate’s degree through a program that combines classroom and hands-on training through GPLA. Ken was also involved in organizing the first Penn-Ohio Lineman’s Rodeo in Greensville, PA in 2007. Along with GPLA and Global Live Line, Ken collaborated with the National Sisterhood United for Journeyman Linemen (NSUJL) to hold the First Annual NSUJL Lineman’s Rodeo at the Blue Knob All Season’s Resort in 2013.
Thomas Quinton Slyter
Thomas Quinton Slyter began his career in linework as a groundman for Great Southwestern Construction in New Mexico. Over the course of his career he held other titles, including apprentice, journeyman, foreman, general foreman, OSHA authorized outreach trainer, and First Aid/CPR instructor. His career took him from New Mexico to Arizona and then on to California where he currently works as a journeyman for the high-voltage construction company Hampton Tedder, Inc. in Los Angeles.Thomas has performed in the high-voltage, high-risk outside line industry for many years and has been recognized for his expertise when he was invited to demonstrate live-line bare handing 500,000 volts for the documentary Dangermen: Half Million Volt Workers. Thomas’s commitment to safety led him to become an OSHA instructor, and he often remains a mentor to his students long after they have become certified. His dedication to helping those new to linework can be seen in his company, Lineworker’s Consulting, LLC, which focuses on helping those new to the field by providing advice on training, licensure, certifications, employment, apprenticeships, career path, tools, equipment, and much more. Thomas also developed the first mobile application for lineworkers, Lineman Guide, which contains valuable photos, charts, diagrams, and specifications that linemen depend on for daily tasks such as rigging, knots, rope capacities, and transformers. This app has been so well received throughout the industry, both in the U.S. and around the world, that it is mandatory on foreman smart phones in many companies.
Mahalon Lloyd "Cliff" Bosch
Mahlon Lloyd “Cliff” Bosch grew up in Williamsport, PA. He became a lineman during his time with the Marine Corps at the end of WWII. As a civilian he held a variety of titles in the field: first-class lineman with Pennsylvania Power & Light, assistant director of safety and hot-line instructor with Kansas Power, and director for two hot-line training schools for the L. E. Myers Company. In 1960 Cliff joined the team at A.B. Chance as a tool demonstrator. Within three years he was the Headquarters Demonstrator, a role in which he introduced new Chance tools to markets in Europe, the Middle East, and South America. Cliff became assistant product manager in 1967 and was promoted to manager the following year. Cliff was a long-time member of the tools and grounding subcommittee of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and served as the committee’s vice-chairman. During his career he represented Chance in the National Utility Training and Safety Education Association and the National Association for Independent Laboratories (NAIL). Cliff remained dedicated to his work for as long as he was able, serving more than 30 years with Chance. Cliff Bosch passed away April 18, 1992.
S.A. "Junior" Funderburgh
S.A. “Junior” Funderburgh was born on a farm west of Sayre, OK in 1928. He is one of 20 children and lived on that farm with his family until his father’s death. In 1944, with the signed permission of his mother since he was only 15, he was allowed to go to work for Norfolk Electric Cooperative where he began his career digging holes for and raising pole by hand. In 1950, he went to work for Tri-County Electric Cooperative in Hooker, OK as a lineman and eventually rose to become purchasing manager. In 1960, Junior went to work for Kansas Electric Cooperative as a pickup and delivery driver for transformer repairs in Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado. Two years later, at the age of 34, Junior began working as a salesperson for Arkansas Electric Cooperative where he worked for 23 years before his retirement. But Junior didn’t let retirement slow him down. Since 1985 he has worked in Oklahoma and Kansas, and can be found driving to visit his customers at cooperative and municipals to this day.
T.F. Johnson
T. F. Johnson graduated from Georgia Tech in 1908 as a mechanical engineer and returned to Tech in 1910 for an electrical engineering degree. He began working for Georgia Railway and Power Company that same year. He started out rolling a wheelbarrow at the Fulton County plant before moving to the repair shop and then the railway department. He worked with the Northern Contracting Company as they built the Tallulah Falls transmission line and after their completion was turned over to Georgia Railway and Power Company along with lines. It was at this point that he was appointed superintendent of transmission and distribution. He still held the position in 1917, when the Georgia Railway and Power Company was the first company in the world to repair and work on power lines of 110,00 volts and below without shutting off the current for even a second. During his years of innovation, he developed the Johnson clamp, a tool for removing and changing insulators on towers and poles, and a detector for broken insulators that could be used by a man on the ground. Mr. Johnson patented many of his innovative tools for hotline work and many went into immediate production and use outside the company.
