Longtime Lemoore educator Everett Ehda retires once more, this time after 10 years as Hanford's airport manager

By Ed Martin, Editor
Everett Ehda, during his retirement party on Saturday (July 20) talks with a friend. Ehda spent 10 years as the Hanford Airport manager.
Everett Ehda, during his retirement party on Saturday (July 20) talks with a friend. Ehda spent 10 years as the Hanford Airport manager.

Eighty-four-year-old Everett Ehda finally decided that maybe it’s time to retire – from his second job. His first career lasted 40 years before he decided to seek greener pastures. The former Lemoore High School ag teacher, who began working at LHS in 1962 – when John F. Kennedy was president – retired after four satisfying and meaningful decades in the classroom.

And just a few days ago, he retired from his second job – as the Hanford Airport manager. On Saturday (July 20), his friends and family said goodbye with a little get-together at his airport office.

Ehda, who holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, has a special kinship with the Hanford-owned airport. After all, he’s a certified pilot who owns his plane, a classic 1947 Beech Bonanza, which he keeps at the airport.

Ehda has managed the small facility on the southeast end of Hanford for the last ten years.

“There just wasn’t anybody that was going to fit in very well,” remembered Ehda when the City began looking for an airport manager more than a decade ago. “They called me up and said you can have it.”

As the airport manager, Ehda was responsible for the entire facility. He maintains the equipment, takes care of the paperwork and hangar rentals, and “everything that goes on around here,” he said.

Everett Ehda was awarded a plaque for his 10 years of service as the Hanford Airport manager.
Everett Ehda was awarded a plaque for his 10 years of service as the Hanford Airport manager.

The Whittier, California native expects to keep busy as he shuttles between two homes, one in Lemoore and the other between Oakhurst and Bass Lake. He also plans to see more of his two daughters, Christine and Michelle, both of whom were on hand Saturday for his retirement. “There’s a lot of work at home in Lemoore,” he said.

The airport job seemed like a natural fit for the longtime pilot, who learned how to fly in 1967 when he enrolled in a West Hills College flight program. “West Hills ran a flight program for a year. It was the greatest deal going. Lots of people learned how to fly.”

He said he had a Piper Cherokee for a while. “I sold it, and then some years later I bought a Bonanza. They’re good planes.”

The last few years have seen increased traffic at the small airport, no small part due to Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch on the outskirts of town. It seems there are plenty of wealthy surfers who think nothing of jetting to Lemoore for a day of riding the waves. “He changed the little world at the airport,” said Ehda. “Two or three charter jets coming in here now is normal. And we’re not talking little cheap airplanes. We just had a 15-passenger airplane come in from Colorado.”

Ehda has enjoyed his second career at the small airport, and he seems completely satisfied with the job he’s done there  “I liked the people. This is a completely different airport than it was a few years ago.”

Longtime Lemoore educator Everett Ehda retires once more, this time after 10 years as Hanford's airport manager

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