When you drive around Owensboro, you’re likely to get on the Wendell H. Ford Expressway, but talk to just about anyone and you’ll find his legacy runs much deeper in this community.
“He was like your favorite uncle,” recalls Fred Reeves, a former president of the Owensboro Chamber of Commerce. “He was very personable, very humorous, and you always knew if you had an issue, you could call the senator and he would give that issue his attention.”
Despite his years living in Frankfort and Washington, Owensboro was always home to the former governor and U.S. Senator. Wendell Ford held the city and its people close to his heart. Fred Reeves remembers Ford for his compassion.
“I’ll never forget the day he called me and told me about a young lady, a single mom who had lost her job, and he asked me if I could help her find a job,” explains Reeves. ‘How many senators would personally call you, dial the number themselves, and ask you to do something for an individual citizen who wasn’t an important person, someone who just had a need?’ That’s the kind of individual he was.”
A week after the Democratic statesman was laid to rest, Owensboro’s citizens are still eager to share fond remembrances of Ford. Cheryl Bradley started working for Senator Ford’s family-run insurance agency in 1970. He was lieutenant governor by that time and was less involved in the business.
“Because his brother was here, he would stop in and he was always very kind and gracious to the employees,” says Bradley. “He didn’t come here to conduct politics. When he came in, it was as a friend.”
Ford’s brother Rayburn was running the insurance agency. As his secretary, Cheryl Bradley recalls Rayburn often played the role of messenger for his brother the politician.
"People would come to Rayburn with requests, things people thought Wendell could get done,” Bradley reflects. “I can remember people coming in and saying ‘We need a traffic light at a certain intersection. Can you get this message to Wendell?’ We had stationery made up especially for these things. Wendell often referred to Rayburn as his fat baby brother, so Rayburn had some memos printed that said ‘from the office of the FBB.’ When Wendell got that, he knew he was getting a request from his fat baby brother.”
The E.M. Ford Company today is run by Senator Ford’s three grandsons. It’s one of several physical reminders of Ford’s legacy around Owensboro.
The U.S. 60 bypass around the city is named in his honor, as well as a portion of the Western Kentucky Parkway. The airfield at the Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport bears his name, as does the National Guard training center. A bust of Senator Ford stands on the lawn of the Daviess County Courthouse. Sheriff Keith Cain recalls the time it was stolen by some pranksters.
“You can imagine the chagrin of my sheriff at the time. I was a young deputy. I was told to drop whatever I was doing and find Senator Ford’s head,” laughs Cain. “Law enforcement in one of our southern states picked up information indicating that it was at a fraternity house at one of the colleges there. I can recall when we found it, he came in my office one day and said while he had been accused of it many times, this was the first time he literally had lost his head!”
Perhaps Senator Ford’s most indelible mark on Owensboro is the Wendell H. Ford Government Education Center. Exhibits trace Ford’s rise in politics from a page in the state legislature to governor and U.S. Senator. The center houses the Statesmanship Academy that serves high school students in Daviess and surrounding counties. Ford Center Director Bruce Kunze says up until the last couple of years, the senator remained active mentoring students.
“We asked students for reflections right after the senator passed, and one student had asked him ‘What’s the best political advice he had ever received, and he said, just be honest.’ I think that’s what he was known for,” states Kunze. “He was a straight shooter. When he told you something, you could count on that and I think that’s what people loved about him.”
The center has produced some budding politicians like Leah Rullman, a junior at Apollo High School in Daviess County.
“I love how it’s made me very interested in government because I grew up in a family that wasn’t really interested in politics,” Rullman explains.
While the Ford Center grooms a new generation of political leaders, the current generation is indebted to the late senator. Inspired by Ford to enter politics himself, State Representative Tommy Thompson says he exemplified what it meant to be true public servant.
"After four terms as a U.S. Senator and plus his previous offices, he should have retired and gone to Florida, and gone fishing. He didn’t do that,” admires Thompson. “He stayed active and he advocated for people he thought could make a difference for Kentucky. He went to every event. His faculties were so strong right up until the end. That’s what impressed me more than anything. He didn’t fold up his tent and go home.”
Thompson also remembers Ford for his sense of humor like the time he posed for a photo with the senator.
“Right after they snapped the shot, he told the photographer, ‘Make sure you send one of those to my wife Jean because my eyes are open and my mouth is shut!’ I love his line where he used to always say it’s tough being a senator from Kentucky where you have to defend smoking and drinking,” laughs Thompson.
Candace Brake is a former city commissioner and now heads the Green River Community Foundation. She grew up in a family of Ford supporters, but she never really got to know the senator until she co-chaired a fundraiser for the Ford Government Education Center.
“It was at that point that I was afforded the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time and really see not just his legacy, but the way he cared about people. I was so touched by his ability to see the talent in each person with whom he came in contact,” remembers Brake. “He always saw the best in young people and he allowed those young people to see the best in themselves.”
During his climb through the political ranks, the down-to-earth boy from Yellow Creek left a lasting impression on everyone he met. Never wavering was his deep love of Kentucky and the people that put him in office year after year.
