Title: Memories of Orion Ford by Ed Johnson, Noank, CT

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Orion Ford, a long time fixture on the Noank waterfront, passed away on Monday, May 15, 2006. A very well attended Memorial Service to honor his life was conducted by Reverend Dr. Paul Hayes at the Noank Baptist Church on Friday, May 19th. I am sure that many stories have been, and will be, told about this wonderful man, but here are some of my own observations and personal memories.

As a recent obituary summarized, Orion was born in 1934, grew up in the Groton area, graduated from Fitch High School, served 4 years in the Air Force, worked for many years at Electric Boat, and gradually shifted his life focus to operating his own marina business, Ford’s Lobsters, for many years on Riverview Avenue in Noank. Although he never married, in a very real sense Orion “developed” a family. He employed a cook and housekeeper, an older lady named Minnie Hart, and provided space in his home for both Minnie and her granddaughter, Dawn Hart, who later baby-sat for our daughter. Orion basically became the father figure in Dawn’s life.

When my wife and I bought a house in Noank in the seventies, we were always impressed with the clockwork precision of Orion’s daily movements as he drove past our house on his way to work 100 yards down the street in the morning, back out for lunch at his house (cooked by Minnie), returning to the Marina, and then back out again at the end of the day for another home cooked meal (again, by Minnie).

Orion loved his business, and he worked 7 days a week without a whimper. I cannot remember that he took any vacation during the seventies and eighties when I saw him the most. He admired people who worked hard and he had many friends in the fishing fleets who spent time sitting and talking with him on bright sunny days down at the marina…usually on old car seats, arranged in outdoor living room style. I remember that these fishermen “solved” most of the worlds major problems during such encounters, and pray that some record or diary of those high level meetings might actually exist somewhere.

For some reason, Orion and I really hit it off, despite his waterfront background and my own in security alarm sales…an unlikely match. Contrary to popular belief, Orion was not so rigid that he could not recognize some good business opportunities, and so we formed a commercial relationship which lasted several years. At that time, I represented a major manufacturer of fire & security equipment which was sold only through proper commercial dealers. So, we simply set up Orion himself as a “dealer,” which allowed us to sell to our neighbors and friends who wanted to install their own systems. Our best local customer was the Noank Fire District itself that purchased and installed a UL listed Fire Alarm system from Orion which lasted over 20 years before a more recent upgrade of the building. And of course, we had a heavy duty system at the Ford’s Lobsters building, designed to protect the lobsters themselves from actually being stolen.

Marine Gasoline, Diesel Fuel, Lobsters and Alarm Systems….what a combination.

Orion was also a very community minded individual, with considerable practical common sense. He was one of the people instrumental in getting me involved with the local Noank Volunteer Fire Department, a move which has definitely had an effect on my life (mostly from lack of sleep?) but which I have never regretted. And I had a chance to see Orion “in action” at a major fire scene (Blue Meadows) years ago, as he quickly instructed us how to “snake” the fire hose in preparation to attack the fire and then supervised us, very calmly, as we followed his instructions.

In his own way, I thought Orion was a good judge of character, because later, when I developed some medical problems, he referred me to his own Doctor up in Ledyard. When I asked why Orion liked the man, the answer was typically very simple…”because he is one of those good Doctors who gives a damn about his patients.” Obviously, this was the highest recommendation I could ever receive, so I went to the Doctor and have been going to him ever since. Orion was right…he does give a damn.

My favorite memory of Orion was late one Sunday afternoon, years ago, on a hot summer day when I had brought my small motorboat into his marina for gas. Orion always hired strong, young students to help him at the docks during the summer. On that day, Mike Porter was assisting me, and as we were fueling my boat, another larger powerboat pulled into the gas dock near us. The owner (I shall refer to him as “Mr. Mouth”) was sitting up in the flying bridge in his bathing suit, shrieking with glee at no one in particular, telling the world what a great weekend he was having. Empty beer cans lying in the boat told the rest of the story. Orion was standing near one of the other gasoline pumps, very calm, with no expression on his face.

At that point, another powerboat cruised past close to the docks in the Mystic River Channel at a higher than necessary speed, causing an excessive wake. This annoyed Mr. Mouth, who proceeded to exchange “words”…loudly….with the captain of the other boat (I shall call him “Mr. Wake”). The language was rather “salty” with Mr. Wake making inappropriate references to the anatomy of Mr. Mouth, who replied by yelling back a request to Mr. Wake to come over and inspect same more closely. Then, as if to emphasize the point, Mr. Mouth suddenly pulled down his bathing suit and dove headfirst into the water from the flying bridge, exposing his backside to the passengers of Mr. Wake, including some ladies who screamed.

Mike Porter and I observed all of this, then turned to each other, trying very hard not to laugh. I looked over at Orion, still standing near the gasoline pump, and his expression had not changed at all. Slowly and calmly, he walked over to the edge of the dock and peered down at Mr. Mouth splashing and giggling in the water.

“Excuse me, sir, did you want to buy some gas?”

I know I’ll always think of Orion…especially when I walk down the street past his Lobster shack…or when I go to see my Doctor.