Residential rock star, but investigator at heart
Name: Dee DeGeest
Title: Engineering technician
Started at CCEC: July 1993
Curiosity runs through Dee (Dianna) DeGeest’s DNA. Growing up, she loved reading mystery novels and “who-dun-it” books. When she graduated from college with a criminal justice degree, she got her career off the ground by interning as a legal assistant, but quickly learned that her real passion was to be an investigator.
“I was an FBI agent for five minutes,” DeGeest said with a smirk on her face.
“I knew I did not want to sit in a law library or a squad car all day. I wanted to figure things out, solve things, and investigate,” she said. Once she made up her mind she went full steam ahead to where she wanted to go. The goal was to reach the highest levels of investigation. So, she poured her heart and soul into the demanding path to becoming an FBI agent. To put the intense process into perspective, it takes three years of professional experience, plus roughly a year to get through the hiring process.
“I passed each hurdle, each test,” she said.
The last phase of the journey was her final interview in Minneapolis, Minn., but she did not have a car, so she bought a bus ticket and had a friend pick her up in the city to attend the interview.
“I was doing all I could to prepare, reading the newspapers to get caught up on current events,” DeGeest said. “I even bought an all-black outfit, because you know black is a power color.”
After an intense 15 minutes in a room with six blacksuited agents, they got up to shake her hand and congratulate her for officially passing the interview. She could finally breathe. During processing, as the agents were briefing her on upcoming training, another gave her a handbook for Quantico (the FBI training center in Virginia) and an airline ticket for her flight. But as an agent was flipping through her file, he noticed that there was one thing they had missed in the background check. “Do you know what your eyesight is?”
DeGeest told him that she wears contacts. Dismay washed over the agent’s face as he dropped his head to the table. At that time, the FBI had a policy that agents had to have 20/20 uncorrected vision due to an agent, whose glasses were lost during a shootout, being killed.
“I had this euphoria from accomplishing my dream, and then it all came crashing down with one little hangup. I was disappointed, but in the back of my mind, I said to myself, ‘You know what? You did it.’”
DeGeest did not let this setback ruin her career ambitions in law enforcement. She gained various experiences in law enforcement, from investigation to narcotics.
“I feel like everything you do gets you to where you are,” she said.
Life at the co-op
Her passion and experience as an investigator led her to succeed in her current role at Cass County Electric Cooperative (CCEC) as an engineering technician.
“I stumbled across my second career,” she said. “I was giving horseback riding lessons to children near Davenport, one of whom was a daughter of a CCEC employee. After serving on a task force, I took a temporary break from law enforcement. I picked up a part-time job at Cass doing a database project, and the next thing I know, they offered me a permanent full-time position, and I went back to school.” Dee is known as the residential rock star; she aids builders and contractors who build new houses in CCEC’s service territory by determining service size and working with their electrician in the staking, design, and implementation of their new electric service.
“I feel like the skills I learned in law enforcement have helped my daily communications skills with builders and contractors,” she said.
An inspiration to many, DeGeest has been a role model in demonstrating what true grit looks like while working as an investigator and in residential electrical design, both male-dominated fields.
“I don’t know any different, and I don’t think about whether I’m working with men or women.” Not only does DeGeest work with builders and contractors, but she works closely with CCEC lineworkers and contractors to accomplish her tasks.
“When I first started here, the linemen had a hard time working with me, because they hadn’t worked with a woman in the field before,” she said. “There were some negative comments and distrust. You can get defeated by that or you can persevere and not let it bother you.”
She made it a point to earn their trust from that moment on. She says the recipe for trust is respect, donuts, and a smile.
Life on the farm
DeGeest can genuinely say she has been living her dream for the last 20 years on her 71-acre farm. With the help of her parents, she has built a life worth living. Outside of work, she enjoys horseback riding, running, and golfing.
“The day I moved in, it was 20 degrees below zero. It was just three horses and me. We took a blank sheet and created my dream place. The only thing lacking is an indoor area,” she said with a laugh.
When winter stomps its way in, DeGeest does not get discouraged by the amount of work she tackles all on her own; instead, she laces her boots, bundles up, and starts her tractor to remove snow.
The hard work farm life requires does not bother DeGeest; instead, she embraces it. She loves caring for her eight horses, two dogs, and three cats. Life will not look much different, except for more time spent living her dream when she retires.
“My animals give me a purpose when life gets overwhelming,” DeGeest said. “My life is simple, but I enjoy it.”