Bio: Gassen, Virginia - BPW’s Woman of the Year (1982)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Gassen, Huckstead

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 10/07/1982

Virginia Gassen, BPW’s Woman of the Year (1982)

By Helen Ouimette

Neillsville Business and Professional Women’s Club recently announced tha4t its centennial year Woman of the Year winner is Virginia Gassen, granddaughter of Arlo Huckstead who homesteaded in the Town of Grant. When asked about her life’s work, Virginia exclaimed, “I hadn’t planned on working after I got married. It just happened.”

Virginia was married in 1945 to Matt Gassen, who had come from Sparta to work at his uncle’s welding shop. One year after their first son Gregory was born, Virginia was back out in the business world as a deputy county clerk. Virginia said, “I was fortunate that my mother was willing to baby-sit for me, and I also had other good people helping me so that was never a problem.” She added, “Matt and I always involved ourselves in the children’s activities, so I don’t feel that my working had any negative effect on them.”

Virginia enjoyed the type of work she was involved in. She explained that in addition to her duties as deputy clerk she also worked part-time for the district attorney and for the county supervisor of schools. This meant that she got in on county board meetings. “I just found that all so exciting and interesting—to be in on things that were going on.”

On July 6, 1953, she was hired to do office work for the Farmers Home Administration. She worked for FmHA until her retirement this year.

Served Long and Well

Virginia didn’t consider her FmHA position just a 9 to 5 job. She was keenly interested in learning every aspect of rural loan funding.

Virginia was to be rewarded for this interest. In 1974, she was sent to Virginia got two weeks on a special assignment. In October of 1978, she was transferred to a district office in Black River Falls and served as a district loan technician, which meant the responsibilities for nine counties.

The job in Black River falls meant traveling 60 miles round-trip each day, but as usual, Virginia injected some fun into the dreariness of it. She got a CB radio for her car and also a home base. Her CB name was “Jinny Queen Bee” and Matt’s “King Bee.” (The idea of the names originated from the Gassen’s ownership of Beeline Body Shop in Neillsville.)

Matt is proud of Virginia’s professional accomplishments. This was evident when Virginia mentioned that she once was assigned to a special task force on rural rental housing that met in St. Louis for eight weeks. Matt was quick to point out that not only was Virginia the only person selected from Wisconsin, but that she was one of only five from throughout the entire U.S. He felt that was due to a special knowledge she had acquired over the years.

She also held other positions of responsibility for FmHA, including being the FmHA Federal Woman’s Program Coordinator for Wisconsin for four years, and an Equal Opportunity Employment Counselor for a year.

Virginia’s emphasis when discussing both these special assignments and her work in general was how much she enjoyed the contact with people.

Active in Community

Virginia was born and raised in the rural Neillsville area neighborhood of Pleasant Valley and graduated from Neillsville High School in 1940. She then spent a year at Stevens Point College and five months at Wausau business college. She quit in 1942 to work in the office of Price Administration, serving until 1945.

She has always taken an active part in rural programs such as the 4-H Club. She recalled that she’s been a 4-Her since she was 8—first as a member, then as a leader both in Pleasant Valley and later in Neillsville. “I think, in fact, that I had the last 4-H Club in the city of Neillsville—that was back in 1960.”

Virginia has also been a long time worked at the county fair. This year she helped judges with “scrabbing” which is the (continued on page 2, but that page I do not have. Dmk)