MADISON, Neb. -- Working with a group, as a community, has always been important to Madison County Clerk Anne Pruss, and she says she honed that skill as a student at Northeast Community College.
Pruss earned an Associates of Arts Degree at Northeast in 1981. During her two years on the Northeast campus, she was involved in several activities, including student government and cheerleading.
“Each facet that you are involved in provides education and knowledge of things that could, or would, occur,” Pruss said. “Growing up, people don’t realize some of these things and how they impact you. To this day, I keep involved. I enjoy being with people and working with people.”
In her current position, Pruss works with people every day.
“Organization is important,” she said, “learning to handle multiple situations at one time. The work can change every five minutes – from payroll to accounts payable, to personnel issues, working with marriage licenses, veterans, surveys, elections. This office does a lot of different things for the county.”
The county clerk is also a resource for other elected officials, Pruss said.
“A lot of the other offices look to the clerk’s office for guidance on HR, employee problems, timecards, things like that.”
Pruss said the skills she learned at Northeast are used regularly, especially bookkeeping.
Pruss said she came to Northeast because it was cost effective, and some of her high school friends also attended Northeast.
“All the instructors at that time were very helpful,” she said, and she especially remembers Gary Lingenfelter. “I feel like I’ve known him forever,” she said, “and he still stops and talks with me.
“I think the definite benefit of going to Northeast was the class size,” Pruss added, “and knowing that each of the instructors pretty much knew who you were and were willing to help out solving whatever issues.”
After graduating from Northeast, Pruss worked at Wetzel and Truex Jewelers, in the records department of the Norfolk Police Division for more than 13 years, and as a reference librarian at the Norfolk Public Library before becoming the Deputy Madison County Clerk in 2015. She was elected Madison County Clerk in 2018 and re-elected in 2022.
During the years she worked for the Norfolk Police Division, Pruss was instrumental in the recreation project that included AquaVenture water park.
“I was on that committee when it was initiated,” she said. “It took about 10 years before that measure passed. Sheila Schukei (City of Norfolk Human Resources Director) was kind enough to let me orchestrate the grand opening.”
While working at the Norfolk Public Library, Pruss was on the committee that helped pass the measure to fund the renovations and addition that were completed in May 2018.
Pruss is married to Tony (Anthony Pruss III), a CPA and shareholder of Auten Pruss & Beckmann PC in Norfolk. They have a daughter, Emily of Dubuque, Iowa; two sons, AJ (Anthony Pruss IV) of Charlotte, N.C., and Mitchell of Newport News, Va.; four grandsons (including Anthony Pruss V) and welcomed their first granddaughter in December.
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Anne Pruss, a Northeast Community College graduate, serves as the Madison County clerk, which is a job that requires her to handle multiple tasks at once. (Northeast Community College)