Tri-Cities has lost another champion. Who speaks for us now?

When I first started working in the Tri-City Herald newsroom in the late ‘80s, it didn’t take long to figure out who the heavy hitters were in the community.

Names like Sam Volpentest, Neil and Billie Jane Lampson and Bob Ferguson were among those that routinely popped up in conversation and in news stories.

They weren’t elected officials. They were the folks who made things happen from the bottom up.

If they came up with an idea that would improve the Tri-Cities, chances are those ideas would become realities.

With Ferguson’s passing a few weeks ago, a long-time Herald reader contacted us and wondered if the era of high-profile Tri-City champions might be nearing its end.

Who are they now, the reader wondered?

It’s an interesting question.

Billie Jane Lampson is credited, among other things, for leading the grassroots effort that built the Tri-Cities Cancer Center in 1994.

Volpentest, nicknamed the Tri-Cities’ Godfather, was tenacious in getting funding for the Richland Federal Building, freeways in Eastern Washington and the twin bridges over the Columbia River. Mostly, though, he was known for playing a key role in the expansion and diversification of Hanford and the entire region.

And Ferguson was the first chairman of TRIDEC, then called “the Tri-Cities Nuclear Industrial Council,” and helped guide Tri-Cities’ growth.

Ferguson passed away at age 89 on Aug. 12. He was a nuclear physicist who worked his way up to become deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Energy during the Carter Administration. He eventually returned to the Tri-Cities to manage construction of the Fast Flux Test Facility, a 400-megawatt research reactor.

But it was his work in promoting Hanford cleanup and his generous spirit that stands out. Ferguson was a champion for the Tri-Cities economy and a philanthropist who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve the community — especially in higher education.

His longtime friend, Gary Petersen, has tried to continue much of their work. Petersen retired five years ago from TRIDEC, where he served as vice president, focusing on federal programs.

Petersen has status at the state and national levels, and that’s been a great help to the community.

But it feels like times are different now. Those movers and shakers don’t seem as common today as they once did.

However, that doesn’t mean the community is necessarily suffering.

There are many wonderful, generous people in the Tri-Cities who prefer to help the community behind the scenes.

Those who win the Tri-Citian of the Year award are often among those who work tirelessly and unselfishly for others, and they do it without seeking recognition for themselves.

And that’s admirable.

There are also all the volunteers who emerge every summer to make sure the Tri-Cities Water Follies is successful. Service clubs are still alive and charitable organizations still do good work.

But the Fergusons of this world pushed for change at a higher level.

I think that’s what the reader who contacted us is referring to.

Does the Tri-Cities still need those individual, strong-willed leaders?

With the power of the internet, people can easily spread the word if there is a cause or an idea that needs promoting. The force of many can be as effective as one or two determined individuals.

Perhaps that’s better.

But then again, the trick is uniting that force — which still takes leadership.

Currently in the Tri-Cities, the effort to build a recovery center and mental health facility was launched primarily because of Michele Gerber, who took the project on and has not let go.

She is the person who comes to my mind when I try to think of someone whose sole effort is going to have a profound impact on the community in recent times.

In addition, improvements to the Tri-Cities are happening at the city and county levels, and in our port districts — which is encouraging. And TRIDEC is still powerful.

But it’s the well-known, grassroots visionaries who seem to be slipping away.

How much does that matter? Let me know your thoughts.

Send a letter to the editor or email me at crexus@tricityherald.com. I’d love to see what kind of discussion comes from this.