Remembering Chief Fuhr
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 2 months AGO
Kevin Fuhr, shown here at his first job as police chief in Rathdrum, served 32 years in law enforcement and never lost his love for it.
Courtesy photo
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | July 31, 2025 1:06 AM
MOSES LAKE — Kevin Fuhr, it’s generally agreed, was a force of nature.
“Man, that guy just kept moving,” said Moses Lake Police Chief David Sands, who succeeded Fuhr as chief in 2023. “I know there were times he probably relaxed, but by and large, he was always on the go.”
Fuhr, who passed away last week after a hard-fought battle with cancer, brought the same energy to everything he did, according to those who knew him, serving Moses Lake as police chief, city manager and chair of the Moses Lake School Board.
“When he came over to Moses Lake, it was just an absolute blessing for the community here,” Grant County Sheriff Joey Kriete said. “He's always been 100% in on whatever he does, and I knew when he came to Moses Lake, it was going to be no different.”
Legal legacy
Kevin Fuhr grew up in Moscow and finished high school in Kennewick, according to the Columbia Basin Herald archives. He wore the uniform for the Kennewick and Ritzville police departments, then for the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, where he worked his way up to undersheriff.
“Chief Fuhr will be missed,” Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner said in a statement. “Our condolences, thoughts and prayers for Chief Fuhr’s family. Our community, and others he served, honor his legacy and leadership.”
Fuhr’s opportunity to lead his own department came in 2007, when he took the job of chief of police in Rathdrum.
“He immediately wanted to talk to all of us and see what we felt the department needed and could use, and the goals that we wanted to see,” said RPD Interim Chief Brandon Friis, who was a patrol officer at the time. “He tried to meet those goals and to fulfill our expectations and those wishes and wants."
In 2013, Rathdrum was named the seventh-safest city in Idaho under Fuhr’s leadership, the only North Idaho city to make that list.
“He moved the department forward,” Friis said.
Solving problems
Fuhr knew how to get things done, Sands said, attacking problems head-on.
“He was not always a patient guy,” Sands said. “When he set his mind to something, he wanted it, and he couldn't understand that there was maybe a process that took a little bit longer than what he wanted. But he had the ability to be laid back and say, ‘Hey, let's go, let's go.’”
That mindset can rub people the wrong way, but Fuhr never did; to the contrary, many people spoke of his gentle, respectful demeanor.
“What jumped out to me is how genuine a guy he was, and that rang true throughout my relationship with him,” said Moses Lake Mayor Dustin Swartz. “He just generally wanted to help people and get things done."
Fuhr brought that same dynamic to the school board, to which he was elected in 2022.
“We became quick and fast friends,” said Shannon Hintz, who served with Fuhr for three years on the board. “Kevin was very tough on things, but he had a lot of compassion when it came to people and circumstances."
Fuhr’s dedication to the community was recognized in 2023, when the Moses Lake Community Coalition not only named him Person of the Year, but actually renamed the award after him.
When Moses Lake went through a turbulent time in city management, Fuhr twice stepped up and served as interim city manager. Finally, in October 2023, he accepted the position full time.
The last task
In 2022, Fuhr encountered an adversary he could neither arrest nor face down nor come to an agreement with: cancer.
The disease had started in his gallbladder and spread, and doctors told him he could expect to live another six to 12 months at the most. He met that challenge, like all the others, head-on. In August 2023, Fuhr led a group of officers and community members on a fundraising walk to support the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, where he had been receiving treatment. His health ebbed and flowed over the next few years, and he retired from both the school board and the city in June 2024. Still, he was able to pursue his hobbies of water skiing and wakesurfing, and in 2024, he was honored as the grand marshal in the SpringFest Grand Parade.
“We decided that, ‘You know what, this isn’t a death sentence,’” Fuhr told the Columbia Basin Herald in 2023. “We’re going to fight until we can’t fight anymore.”
That day finally came July 21, when Fuhr passed away surrounded by his family. He left behind a wife, a daughter and a grateful community.
“I loved the guy,” Kriete said. “The community is not going to be the same without him. He left a legacy here for all of us to strive to be better. He really did.”
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
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BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
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