Suki Cell remembered as persistent, ethical advocate

Susan 'Suki” Cell, former vice president of government relations for the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, is remembered for her energy and knowledge.

'She was as persistent as they come,” recalled Lee Clancey, a former Cedar Rapids Area Chamber president and Cedar Rapids mayor. 'You knew her heart was always in the right place. She was a pleasure to work with, but someone who made you think carefully about your own opinions and positions and understand that you have to be able to support them.”

Cell, 76, died earlier this week in the Unity Point Hospital Hospice Center. She worked as a lobbyist for the Chamber at the Iowa Legislature for 20 years, retiring in 2005.

Clancey said Cell was very business oriented and wanted to make sure that Cedar Rapids received its fair share of business opportunities.

'She was just a terrific advocate for whatever the issue and whoever she was representing,” Clancey said.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, who was Cell's boss when he was president of the Chamber, was on the receiving end of her advocacy when he was speaker of the Iowa House.

'I remember when she was lobbying me for the elimination of the machinery and equipment tax,” Corbett said. 'The business community wanted that tax eliminated and communities were against it unless there was going to be a backfill provision. That was a big piece of legislation that she worked on.”

Corbett and Clancey noted that Cell came out of retirement after the flood of 2008 to help Cedar Rapids get needed resources. 'We would have been a poorer community without her efforts,” Clancey said.

Before her work with the Chamber, Cell worked for various causes, including the Democratic Party, the Iowa Civil Liberties Union, and United Nations Association. She also served on the state board of the League of Women Voters.