Doug Abele, legal counsel for Co-Mo Connect Powered by Co-Mo Electric Cooperative, Inc., Tipton, was honored with the A.C. Burrows Award by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives (AMEC) at that organization’s annual meeting Oct. 2 in Branson.
The purpose of the award is to recognize directors and employees of electric cooperatives for outstanding service to their cooperative, community and service areas. Those who received the award were selected because of their leadership above and beyond the call of duty to strengthen and improve the economic and social conditions in their areas.
Doug has been a guiding light for the cooperative for nearly 50 years. In 1975 Doug formally took on the responsibility of providing legal guidance for the rapidly growing central Missouri cooperative. As general counsel, Doug was instrumental at several key points in Co-Mo’s history. He assisted in establishing the Lake District Office in Sunrise Beach, laid the legal foundation for the formation of the Co-Mo Cares Trust which has donated over $2.6 million to local communities, and in 2010, Doug provided the legal framework and navigated the incorporation of Co-Mo Comm as the cooperative launched a fiber-to-the-home project.
Doug also served as the Cooper County prosecuting attorney for 36 years, the longest continuing service as a prosecuting attorney in the history of Missouri. He continued to serve as assistant prosecuting attorney for five years and served as the Boonville city counselor from 1978 to 1982 and again from 2019 to 2024. Doug currently resides in Boonville with his wife, Mary Pat, who is also active in the community. Their daughter, Ashley, and husband, Luke, live nearby with their three children who Doug describes as the “lights of his life.”
The award is named for the late Audrian Cleon Burrows of Van Buren, Mo., who rose through the ranks to become general manager of the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, which is the statewide service organization for Missouri’s 48 electric cooperatives. Burrows served in this position from 1968 to 1976. He was recognized as an outstanding leader in rural electrification and as a distinguished individual who dedicated his life to helping others.
The Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, Jefferson City, is the statewide service organization for Missouri’s electric cooperatives.