Former Onaway mayor Harry Moran passes
by Peter JakeyManaging Editor
Lifelong resident Harry Moran Jr., who served as Onaway’s mayor, worked as a self-employed logger and founded the Onaway Speedway, passed away Sunday. He was 88.
Members of the Onaway City Commission paid tribute to the longtime businessman and civic leader.
“He will be sorely missed,” said commissioner Bernie Schmeltzer, who served on the commission with Moran. “He was a good community person and I want to send out my sympathies to the Moran family.”
“I would share Bernie’s sentiments regarding former mayor Harry Moran,” said commissioner Chuck Abshagen. “He was a good man. I also had the opportunity to serve with him when I was on the commission in the late 1970s
. Harry always loved Onaway and he always had the best interest of Onaway in his heart.”
Harry lived in Onaway all of his life, except for a brief term in the Navy during World War II. When he returned from the service, he swore he would never leave Onaway again.
When Harry returned from the Navy, he realized there were only two kinds of jobs available in the area. “On the farm, or in the forest,” stated Harry when he and his wife Marion were named 2001 Fourth of July grand marshals.
He started his lumbering business with a horse harness and tongs that cost $50, and a pair of one-man saws. He retired with the most modern equipment in the industry and a record with Georgia Pacific for shipping more wood than anyone else in the United States. In one day, his firm shipped 30 loads for 1,010 tons.
When the Korean War broke out, Harry was called back into serv
He served on the Timber Association board until the age of 65 and was a member of the business community for 50 years. He built the speedway in 1980 and operated it for 16 years.
Harry also was the first mayor under the new five-member city commission in 1977. He was first elected to the city commission to a three-year term in 1972.
He also was a parade grand marshal in 1985 and a co-grand marshal in 1992.
In 1989, he helped harvest the governor’s Christmas tree and haul it to the state capitol.
Visitation at the Chagnon Funeral Home is today from 4 to 8 p.m. There will be a funeral Mass Friday at St. Paul Catholic Church at 11 a.m.