The man who helped build a Tri-Cities center for the homeless and the downtrodden has died

Don Porter, the “good man of God” who helped build the Tri-City Union Gospel Mission in Pasco into a center for service to the homeless and the downtrodden, has died.

Porter, 78, died March 20 in Richland, his home of two decades.

The mission announced his death in a Facebook post that included a reference to 2 Corinthians 5:8 “... away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

“This morning Donald Porter is in the arms of his Savior,” said the post. “Don served as Executive Director of the Tri-City Union Gospel Mission from 1998 through 2013. We are thankful for his and Glenda’s love and sacrifice for this ministry. He was used mightily by God and will be missed by all of us.”

Porter handed off the leadership of the mission to his son, Andrew, in 2013, but lived to see it fulfill his long-held dream when the mission moved into a state-of-the-art new building in downtown Pasco late last year.

Tri-Cities mission started small

The mission was a venerable but tiny operation when Porter arrived in 1998, coming from the Yakima Union Gospel Mission.

It served the homeless in a pair of crowded buildings on North Second Avenue, one serving men and the other for women and children.

It had a a tiny staff and a tinier budget — $261,000.

Porter built the mission up, overcoming resistance from a board member who was angry that he’d fired an office manager.

Under his leadership, it grew to a staff of 19 full- and part-time employees and a $3 million budget, including donations, and launched the fund-raising and planning drive that led to construction of the $11.5 million, 160-bed facility.

When he retired, Mel Lacey, vice president of the mission’s board of directors, praised him a “good man of God” who set an example as a leader.

Porter was born in Missouri. He served three years in the Army following high school.

After college and graduate studies, he came to Washington, serving as a pastor in Redmond and then Yakima, where he first volunteered at the mission and later made it his vocation.

Mueller’s Tri-Cities Funeral Home in Kennewick is in charge of the arrangements.