By: Nathan Bloechl — [email protected]
Humboldt, Iowa — Humboldt County Engineer Ben Loots is off to terrific start as the lead engineer, taking over for his former boss, Paul Jacobson.
But, one thing that may have got lost on his first tenure as the lead man is the pronunciation of his last name.
The supervisors meeting on Monday provided some comic relief in that regard.
According to supervisor chairman Bruce Reimers, following an interaction with someone who is familiar with the Loots family, the actual pronunciation of Loots is Loats… confusing, I know.
Loots was asked about it by the board and explained that his last name — actually Loats — has been pronounced as Loots “since he was a kindergartner.”
For months on end, we’ve called him Ben Loots, and without a whimper he peacefully acknowledged everyone who used that phrasing.
So if you see the Humboldt County Engineer, make sure to call him by his real last name.
Loats — rhymes with Boats — not Loots.