Neil Eckles was president and operating officer of Blue Earth Valley Telephone Company (Bevcomm) for over 20 years.

The community of Blue Earth, and most of Faribault County, and even beyond, lost a quiet community giant earlier this year with the death of Neil Eckles on Feb. 26, at the age of 84.

Eckles, of course, was the president and chief operating officer of Blue Earth Valley Telephone Company for more than 20 years, from 1981 to 2003.

He took it from a collection of small town telephone companies like Easton Telephone Company and Eckles Telephone to become a large communications giant now known as Bevcomm.

“He took the company from analog technology to digital, and up through the Internet age,” Eckles’ son, Bill, says of his father. “He was involved in the cellphone start up and providing wireless service to rural areas.”

Sue Eckles says her husband got a very early start in the telephone/communication business.

“I doubt whether Neil could ever remember a time in his life when he didn’t work for the telephone company,” Sue Eckles is quoted as saying. “At age eight he would walk for miles to deliver telephone books. Sweeping floors at the office or working on lines was routine for Neil as a boy.”

Perhaps his years in college and his three years in the Marines were the only exceptions.

Bill Eckles, who was named Bevcomm president and CEO by his father in 2003, says he learned a lot from his dad. And not all of it was about the telecommunications business.

“The biggest thing was to make sure the company was viable,” Bill Eckles says. “He wanted to make sure he could help support the communities we serve, and the people who work here.”

That included having Bevcomm and its predecessors always stay independent, and not have to sell out to other larger companies.

Neil Eckles always stayed very active in the community. He was a member of Hope United Methodist Church in Blue Earth, served on the Blue Earth Light and Water Board of Directors for decades, on the Blue Earth Economic Development Authority board and the board at First National Bank (now First Bank Blue Earth). He was also on the Board of Trustees at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, where he had attended after graduation from Blue Earth High School.

His dad was gone a lot of evenings because he was going to meetings, the younger Eckles says.

“But it was because he believed in the town of Blue Earth,” he explains. “He believed in helping out in all the small towns in the area, especially in the area of business and economic growth.”

Neil Eckles was known as a quiet and humble man, despite running a very large business which his grandfather had purchased in 1914, and which his father, Eldon, had been president of before Neil took over.

A prime example of Neil doing something quietly and not wanting any praise for it was the Ag Center in Blue Earth, Bill says.

“It was empty, after having been a grocery store, pharmacy and farm store,” Bill Eckles says. “My father bought it, remodeled it, and turned it into offices and store space for farm-related businesses.”

That was back in 1993.

He did it because he thought it should be done. Eventually the Ag Center’s middle portion was donated to the city to be what is now Little Giants Child Care Center. The rest of the Ag Center was eventually donated to the city of Blue Earth and the EDA.

When he wasn’t working, and after he had retired, Neil Eckles loved to travel with his wife, Sue, to many different places. They had been married in 1972.

He also loved to go hunting and fishing, with family and friends.

“I am not sure he was a dedicated fisherman, however,” Bill Eckles says with a smile. “Fishing with Dad was like getting up late, having a big breakfast, going out fishing for a while, coming back in for shore lunch, a little more fishing then heading back in time for happy hour. We maybe fished four hours tops for the day.”

It was the social aspect of fishing for his father, Bill Eckles says. He wanted to visit with his family and friends on the trip. Just being with the people he brought with him.

If they caught any fish, that was a bonus, Bill Eckles adds.

Neil Eckles was the Blue Earth Chamber of Commerce Community Service Award honoree in 1996. One of the people who chose him for the award has this to say about him.

“He is a visionary,” they said of Neil Eckles. “He does not just stop for what is important for Blue Earth today, he is looking toward the future of Blue Earth.”