Eddy Ford

Eddy Ford died at his home in Farragut on Tuesday 6 October 2026. He was 87. No cause of death was made public.

Mayor Alex Cain announced the death at the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting on 8 October 2026, saying the town had received word that day that its second mayor had passed away, and noting that Ford held the record as Farragut's longest-serving elected official. The farragutpress published a front-page tribute on 14 October, and WBIR reported his death on 16 October, citing a town announcement.

Tributes came from former and current town leaders. Former alderman Bob Markli called him "Mr. Farragut" and said he had helped put the town on the map with Bob Leonard. Former vice mayor Dot LaMarche recalled how fondly he was regarded at Tennessee Municipal League and National League of Cities meetings. Former mayor Ron Williams said he listened to the people and turned what they wanted into ordinances, and retired public works director Bud McKelvey remembered that he never wanted the town to go into debt. Funeral arrangements had not been reported at the time of writing.

Walter Edward Ford, known all his life as Eddy, grew up in the Farragut community in western Knox County, Tennessee, and lived there for the rest of his life. His mother was a schoolteacher, and colleagues later credited her with his strong command of English. At Farragut High School he played varsity football and basketball, was widely popular and graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1957.

He went on to the University of Tennessee, where he earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree in nuclear engineering. He also served two years of active duty as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army.

Ford worked as a construction engineer for the Atomic Energy Commission and then spent 33 years in the computational physics and engineering division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory before retiring. For many years he also refereed local high school football games.

When the Town of Farragut was incorporated in January 1980, he ran for South Ward alderman in its first election. His campaign letter told voters that as a lifetime resident he shared a deep concern about the town's future and that its formative period would be a chance to take part in local democratic government. He was elected to the first Board of Mayor and Aldermen alongside the town's founders. He had not been part of the incorporation effort, but he quickly adapted to municipal government and became known for reviewing proposed ordinances to correct grammar and structure. He served as vice mayor under the first mayor, Bob Leonard, during the period when the new Town Hall was completed.

In 1993, when Leonard retired, Ford became Farragut's second mayor, a post he held for 16 years. He ran the town on a strict policy of avoiding debt and paying for projects in cash, and Farragut's population grew from about 6,000 in 1980 to about 21,000 in 2010 without a municipal property tax. He championed parks, greenways, walking trails and sidewalks, brokered a deal with landowners on North Campbell Station Road for land for a new Knox County library branch and public park, co-founded the Farragut High School Education Foundation and introduced annual priority lists and quarterly progress reports for town department heads. He also chaired state boards that guided regional transportation and resource policy, including a Regional Transportation Planning Organization. In 2007 the Tennessee Municipal League named him Mayor of the Year.

In April 2009 he was defeated for re-election by Ralph McGill, one of the town's founders, ending 29 years on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

Ford married his childhood sweetheart, Linda, in 1960; the two had been students together at Farragut High School. They were active members of Concord United Methodist Church. Linda Ford worked alongside him on the town's heritage projects, and in the early 1990s the couple, working with the town's museum committee, helped acquire the Farragut Collection of material about Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, travelling north to bring artifacts back for the museum. Colleagues described him as easygoing, fair and a good listener.

Ford guided Farragut through its first three decades, from a newly incorporated town of about 6,000 people to a suburb of about 21,000, while keeping it free of a municipal property tax and debt. His 29 years in office are a record the town says can never be broken because of term limits. The parks, greenways, library and education foundation he backed, and the Admiral Farragut collection he and Linda helped bring to the town museum, remain part of the community. The town attorney, Tom Hale, said the citizens of Farragut should be forever grateful to Eddy and Linda Ford for their commitment of time, energy and integrity to the town's growth.