PERU – A Nebraska City native who ran his own retail clothing store in Nebraska City for support while he attended Peru State College will be joining the Peru State College Foundation Board in January.

Lonnie Bane credits the work ethic he gained on a farm in Otoe County and his hands-on education at Peru State for springboarding a stellar career in human resources. His resume reflects HR jobs with companies including Singer, Pepsi, and America West Airlines.

He most recently operated Bane Development and Investments in Texas.

His Nebraska City store, Jean Haven, was featured in the Jaycee Jaynes fall fashion show in 1981.

Here is the college’s press release

Peru, Neb. – After concluding an extraordinary career in human resources for several of the biggest companies across the U.S., new Peru State College Foundation Board member Lonnie Bane now enjoys spending time tending cattle.

            The retired executive raises longhorn and angus cattle on his ranch near Sweet Home, Texas.

            A 1980 graduate of Peru State and Nebraska City native, Bane begins a three-year term on the college’s Foundation Board of Directors Jan. 1. The Foundation is a private, non-profit corporation to acquire, manage and distribute charitable gifts in support of Nebraska’s first college.

Bane and his wife the former Darla Bargenquast of Hamburg, Iowa, live in New Braunfels, Texas. He is now ready to help the college that gave him the opportunity to embark on his noteworthy career.

“Peru State has been very good to me over the years, providing me with scholarships years ago and a great education,” Bane said. “I feel it is my obligation to give back by helping this institution continue to thrive and provide educational opportunities in Southeast Nebraska and beyond.”

“Without Peru State College and the scholarships I was provided, I might not have gone to college” he added. “I got a great hands-on education that prepared me well for my career. Throughout my working years, I leaned on many things I was taught by some great professors at PSC.”

Imbued with a strong work ethic from his youth helping on the Otoe County family farm, Bane put himself through college owning and operating a retail clothing store in Nebraska City from 1976-80. He sold the business, Jean Heaven, just before graduation from Peru State.

Bane’s business degree had an emphasis in labor and employee relations and led him into a more than 30-year career in human resources. His resume’ reflects HR jobs with Singer Corp., PepsiCo/Frito Lay, Mobil Oil, America West Airlines, and Pride International. Pride, one of the largest offshore oil drilling firms in the world at the time, had $6 billion in assets and 26,000 employees from its Houston, Texas-based headquarters.

He left Pride in 2011 when it was acquired in a corporate merger and began Bane Coaching and Consulting, a Houston-based executive coaching/consulting practice. Clients in the automotive, manufacturing, legal services, gas and oil, and medical fields were clientele from 2011-15.

            Bane spent the next three years as chair and chief executive officer of the Houston-based Sierra Institute, with membership including the top 100 human resource executives from across the globe.

For the last five years of his career, he operated Bane Development and Investments, a real estate development firm that built more than a half a million square feet of office space in seven different Texas complexes.

            After his remarkable professional journey working for large firms across the country in the pressure-packed field of human resources, Lonnie Bane retired in 2023. He and Darla have eight grandchildren along with the cattle ranch and his volunteer work at a local shelter in New Braunfels, and now his new role with the Peru State Foundation.

“I think I can bring the Foundation a new and different perspective based on my diverse experiences and professional background,” Bane said. “I will bring energy and focused problem-solving skills. I plan to help the Foundation grow its funding and help to ensure the long-term viability of Peru State College.”

            Looking back on his college days, Bane cites particularly important influences. “Two professors had a huge impact on my career of choice and my focus while at PSC,” he reflected, “Robert Lewellen and Russell Beldin will always have a huge place in my heart. They were incredibly helpful and supportive.”

            Now he is anxious to devote some of his time and energy to Peru State, where his journey began. He and Darla still have family and many friends in Southeast Nebraska and Southwest Iowa.