‘Patron mayor’ of Tri-Cities dies. He spent decades making it a better place to live

The man once called “the patron mayor” of the Tri-Cities has died.

John Fox, the mayor of Richland for six years through 2013, died Tuesday at the age 95.

“John was a reasonable and calming force in our community and he will be missed,” said Joe Schiessl, deputy city manager.

The flags at Richland City Hall will fly at half mast this weekend in his honor.

Fox came to the Tri-Cities in 1951, fresh out of Oregon State University with a master’s in mechanical engineering, planning to work at what would later become Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for a few years before moving on.

He liked bigger city life, he thought at the time.

But he met his wife, Kathryn, a South Dakota native, and never left.

She told the Herald on Thursday that he felt like he had such a good life that he should give back. He spent decades making Richland a better place to live and work.

He served on the Richland School Board for two terms in the ‘70s and ‘80s. In the ‘90s, he served on the city’s parks and planning commissions.

In 2002 he joined the council and served there until his retirement as mayor more than 11 years later.

It was the late Steve Young, the former mayor of Kennewick, who called Fox the patron mayor of the Tri-Cities.

Young turned to Fox for guidance after being selected as his city’s mayor, and Fox met to talk him through “the ups and downs, the highs and the lows.”

A new tradition grew out of that meeting — the mayors of Kennewick, Richland, West Richland and Pasco began getting together regularly, leading to greater understanding among the cities and even opportunities for some of them to work together on projects to save money and gain efficiency, Young said.

He described Fox as “the most honest, professional, compassionate person I think I’ve ever known,” and said Fox’s commitment to the Tri-City community was an inspiration.

Matt Watkins, former mayor of Pasco, praised Fox at the Richland mayor’s retirement for the wisdom and perspective he brought to the mayor gatherings.

David Rose, the Richland mayor pro tem when Fox retired, said then that he had learned patience from Fox and to make sure he knew both sides of each issue before commenting.

Fox listened, built consensus

Fox told the Tri-City Herald in an interview as he retired from the council that he learned a valuable lesson about public participation and public opinion in his first hot-button issue as a public official.

As a new school board member in 1975 the council was considering whether to start building schools in south Richland and West Richland or go to year-round schools.

He supported new schools, with the board ultimately proposing a bond measure that voters approved.

“Afterward, (some) people would come to us and say, ‘Well, we don’t agree with your decision, but you listened to us and you gave your reasons for doing it, so we’ll accept it,’” he said.

Fox spoke with an engineer’s deliberateness and logic, but he was also known for his dry sense of humor. He said at his retirement from the council that he tried to build consensus on the council and foster a collegial atmosphere.

After leaving the school board and retiring from full time work at the national lab, he joined the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission and worked on the effort to build the community center at 500 Amon Park Drive.

He also became a city planning commissioner and was then picked to fill a vacancy on the city council.

He served on the council during years of strong economic growth, with assessed property value swelling by 96% and sales tax revenue increasing 30%. He called developing a long-range strategic plan for the city that was responsive to its residents one of his most important projects.

He his survived by his wife, Kathryn; his son and daughter-in-law Jay and Celina Fox in Pasco; daughter and son-in-law Ann and Eric Oliner in Issaquah, Wash.; two grandchildren and two great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by son Ryan Fox.

Einan’s at Sunset in Richland is in charge of arrangements.