Known by many as “Chief” as a nod to his role in founding the Maple Valley Volunteer Fire Department, Wilburn “Bill” Harshfield made a lasting mark on his community.

“In the early days in Maple Valley, there were only two things going on – the railroad and the fire department – and he was involved with both,” said his granddaughter, Judi Griffin.

Harshfield, 91, died Dec. 23.

Born Dec. 28, 1916, he grew up in Seattle and graduated from Franklin High School. In 1929, he relocated to Maple Valley when his parents bought 33 acres off Maxwell Road on the Cedar River.

He worked as a maintenance foreman for the Pacific Coast Railroad for 43 years. He met his wife, Mildred, in Maple Valley and the couple were married in 1937. The couple settled in the railroad section house alongside the tracks on Maple Valley Highway until Harshfield’s retirement in 1976, and they were married 66 years until her death in 2003, three years after they moved to a retirement community in Stanwood.

Griffin said Harshfield had “a great gift for telling a story” and shared stories about the fire department, as well as growing up in Seattle’s Rainier Beach area and life during the Great Depression.

When he retired, Harshfield sold the railroad section house for a dollar, and it was burned as part of a fire department training exercise.

Harshfield was instrumental in establishing the fire department in the 1950s and served as the volunteer fire chief for 19 years until retiring from the position in 1970. His wife volunteered with the department, as well, serving as the dispatch radio system operator.

“Their house was kind of the center point of the city, and the fire station was right up behind them. They were right in the center of the community,” Griffin said.

Maple Valley Fire and Life Safety chief Tim Lemon said Harshfield would often attend events in the community when his health permitted, and that “we all knew him.”

The Harshfields were lifetime members of the Maple Valley Historical Society, which was established in 1972, and he often wrote articles for the organization about the early days of the railroad and the fire department. Among those is “Birth of King County Fire District 43,” which was published in 1990. It can be found on Maple Valley Fire and Life Safety’s Web site (http://www.maplevalleyfire.org/districts) under the History section.

Harshfield spent much of his free time hunting and fishing with his friends and family. He enjoyed fishing for steelhead in his front yard, as well as other local rivers and lakes. He was a big sports fan and never missed watching the Mariners or Seahawks play, relatives said. In addition, he was a Mason and member of the Black Diamond Lodge.

Griffin said that Harshfield remained connected to firefighters even after moving to Stanwood and spent time around the fire department there, too, and became known among the Stanwood firefighters. “We would run into them out in public and they would say, ‘Hey, Chief,'” she said. “It’s a firefighter thing.”

“When I think of him the thing I think most about him is that he is one of the finest men I’ve ever met,” Griffin said. “He was a good-hearted person. He was very hard-working. He was a larger-than-life personality. He’s going to leave a big hole.”

Harshfield is survived by his daughter, Florence Emerson of Rio Rico, Ariz., son Frank Harshfield of Camano Island, four grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

Staff writer Kris Hill can be reached at (425) 432-1209 (extension 5054) and khill@reporternewspapers.com