Mike Miller remembers the first time he met Paul Morford.
“It was 1977 and I walked up to his construction office as a young banker on his muddy walkway,” said Miller, now president of Valley Bank in Kent.
“I had on my wingtips and my three-piece suit.”
Miller quipped wryly, “He always told people I loaned him money when I shouldn’t have.”
With a directness that could be bracing – but a “heart of gold,” as Miller recalled, Morford was an indelible part of the Kent business community for many years. But he was a lot more than that. With his earnest support of everything from Boy Scouts to Habitat for Humanity – and the occasional explosive moment at City Hall – Morford left an even larger fingerprint in terms of civic-mindedness and a passionate desire to do things right.
Kent is going to seem a lot quieter without Morford.
The retired businessman and tireless community supporter died Sunday at 77 after a short battle with liver cancer. He died with his family members at his side, including wife Carol, to whom he had been married for 52 years.
Morford leaves behind a legacy of civic involvement: from the Italian-made carousel in Town Square that he and Carol purchased for the city, to the local operations of the Boy Scouts, to the various city committees on which he served.
Morford’s fingerprint on Kent and the surrounding areas can be seen in other ways, too: in terms of the many construction projects his company DMS Construction completed, including residences and apartment complexes. That’s in addition to the homes he helped get built for Habitat for Humanity, and for the the construction program he so earnestly supported at Green River Community College, with donations of land, building materials, and know how.
“He was just really driven,” recalled Morford’s son Ron. “He got up every morning at 4 a.m.; he tried to do many different things.”
One of those that touched Ron directly was Morford’s passion for scouting. Ron and his two other brothers Gary and Dale all became Eagle Scouts, in large part because of their dad’s determination that they achieve scouting’s highest rank.
“There was a lot of pushing by Mom and Dad for all three of us,” Ron said. “My dad when he was in scouts, always regretted not getting his Eagle Scout badge.”
Ron noted that when it appeared there wasn’t going to be a “den mother” to lead the neighborhood scout troop (at that time women usually took the job) his father stepped up, leading Ron’s troop.
“It was pretty unheard of for a male to be a den mother, but none of the moms would volunteer, so my dad volunteered,” Ron said. “I don’t know if he was one of the first, but he was one of the few.”
Morford’s interest in scouting culminated in leadership positions at the regional level, as well as helping chair the first Friends of Scouting luncheon two years ago at the ShoWare Center.
Miller recalled Morford’s intense interest in city government, which included serving on different city committees, as well as the occasional flare up that would occur when he believed the city was doing things the wrong way.
“He would be over at city hall, and he would get so upset with people,” Miller said, noting the passion came from a good place.” He would come over here and debrief, and I’d recommend maybe he go out on his boat and relax a couple of days.
“I think one of his goals in life was to make government more efficient,” Miller added. “To his dying day, I think he was trying to accomplish that.”
Ron, too, remembered hearing of some of his dad’s classic moments at City Hall.
“He had lots of battles with lots of mayors,” Ron said. “He’s probably legendary for going down there. But with good intentions.”
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