Bonney Lake lost a piece of its history this month as longtime resident and city stalwart Duane Tidball died Dec. 31.

Tidball was diagnosed with lymphoma in November and died at the University of Washington Medical Center of complication of pneumonia. He was 78.

Tidball grew up in Grandview, Wash., but was one of the first residents of Bonney Lake, moving to the city in 1952, just three years after incorporation. Friends and family recall him saying there were 272 residents when he moved to town.

“When Dad first got here, there wasn’t even a 410,” son Randy Tidball said.

Tidball was one of the first business owners in the region as well, opening Duane’s U Save, a gas station and automotive garage at the base of Ehli Hill, now occupied by Lake Tapps Detailing, and owned by his son, Randy Tidball.

As the area grew and state Route 410 was built through the region, traffic to Tidball’s station began to dry up as cars were re-routed up the highway, prompting him to open Cedar Grove Automotive along the new highway on Jan. 1, 1970.

“There was a 76 on the corner and really nothing else,” said Joe Sexton, present manager of Cedar Grove Automotive, adding that Bowen Auto Wrecking, the Bonney Lake Tavern and the Hilltop Cafe were about the only other businesses on the highway at that time.

Tidball officially retired in 2004, but the shop is still open and he continued to visit the shop and hang around with the staff, often pulling them away from their work or keeping them entertained with his numerous stories of the old days.

“He liked to tell stories. No matter what you were doing, he always had a story that related to it,” Sexton said, adding that since Tidball’s death, “I’m bored every day.”

But Tidball was more than just one of the first businessmen in the city, playing a larger civic role in the early days of Bonney Lake.

Tidball was a fire chief, a deputy marshal (before Bonney Lake had its own police department) and the city’s first garbage man.

“He used to love to tell people when he was garbage man they paid him 40 bucks a week and all he could eat,” Sexton said.

Friends and family recall Tidball as a strong family man who was very fond of Bonney Lake and very dedicated to his job as a”fixer of things.”

“What I think Dad did for fun was work,” daughter Connie Swarthout said, adding that after he retired, he also enjoyed spending time fishing.

In his later years, Tidball was active in the Greater Bonney Lake Historical Society, though according to Society President Dennis Dhaese, Tidball was more comfortable behind the scenes than sitting in a booth at an event somewhere.

Dhaese said he remembers the night before the city’s 50th anniversary parade – the first parade in the city – when Tidball stayed up late into the night repairing a golf cart that wouldn’t work for use in the parade.

“He worked on that thing all night the night before the parade,” Dhaese said. “I thought ‘This guy is something else.’”

Tidball, and his wife Iris, also opened their home to the historical society for their early meetings.

“He’d always have coffee for us and something to munch on at meetings,” Dhaese said.

All said Tidball will be remembered primarily as a storyteller who loved to be around people, especially his family.

“He was definitely a Bonney Lake character,” Dhaese said.

Tidball is survived by four children, 12 grandchildren and dozens of great grand-children. He was preceded in death by his wife Iris and grandson Cody Swarthout.

A memorial service for Tidball is planned for 12:30 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Swiss Sportsman Park, 9205 198th Ave. E. and is open to the public.