MOYIE SPRINGS — A new stone memorial now honors the late Ken English, who dedicated 47 years of service as the Moyie Springs Volunteer Fire Chief. The tribute, placed outside Moyie Springs City Hall earlier this month, was gifted by the Boundary County Fire Chiefs Association. 

Commissioned from Idaho Granite Works, the stone bears the inscription “In Memory of Ken English” and features an etched image of a bird of prey soaring over a North Idaho landscape — a nod to English’s lifelong passion for falconry.

    

English moved to North Idaho in March 1957. Not long after, he began rescuing and rehabilitating young birds of prey, often nursing them through the region’s brutal winters. In 2020, he was recognized by Idaho Fish & Game for decades of work “done on his own nickel, with very little fanfare.” 

“If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t do it,” English said in a past interview with the Herald. 

The memorial also celebrates English’s tireless public service across Boundary County. His legacy began in 1977, when then-Mayor Bob Pluid tasked English, a city councilman, with forming a fire department for Moyie Springs. 

“Bob said, ‘Ken, take care of it. Cut through the red tape and do what you’ve got to do,’” recalled current Fire Chief Steve Economu, also a councilman at the time. “That’s the way things were done back then.” 

From just a five-ton Army dump truck, English built a fully functioning department — always focused on serving the public, regardless of jurisdiction. He never retired and stayed active for nearly five decades, always preferring to be in the thick of things. 

The memorial is installed near the south entrance of Moyie Springs City Hall, where all who visit will be reminded of English’s enduring impact on the community.