Longtime Polson businessman Jim Duford retires
Berl Tiskus
Jim Duford straightens Pendleton jackets at the First Resort. The store carries a large Pendleton collection, and Duford received a plaque honoring his 50-year history with Pendleton Woolen Mills.
Berl Tiskus
Jim Duford looks over a scrapbook filled with high school memorabilia.
Berl Tiskus
Jim Duford, right, stands with an arm around daughter Tali Barron. The pair has operated the First Resort since 1992.
Berl Tiskus
Duford received a plaque honoring his 50-year history with Pendleton Woolen Mills. The First Resort carries a huge selection of Pendleton clothing, blankets and accessories.
Berl Tiskus
Jim Duford holds a postcard he sent to his mother soon after he came to Polson in 1946 to live with his Aunt Irene and Uncle Les Baldwin. Duford’s mother saved the heart-wrenching message.
Berl Tiskus
Jim Duford hold shoes he wore when he was an infant and his baby picture. His mother wrote poetry and penned a poem about his baby shoes.
Berl Tiskus
An old photo of D & E Food Mart brings back a flood of memories for Jim Duford. It was his first business endeavor in Polson.
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Start looking at the details emerging when focusing on Jim Duford’s life and a picture forms — a hardworking businessman who’s been involved in the community, who brought up his family in Polson and now his children are raising their kids here.
You might see Jim Duford walking to the bank or on his way to coffee with the guys at the Lake City Bakery. He’ll always say “hi” and call you by name.
That’s one of his strong suits, Duford said. He remembers names and places where businesses were years ago.
“He remembers sizes, too,” said Tali Barron, Duford’s daughter and business partner in the First Resort.
At a young-looking 80 years old, Duford has decided to retire.
Duford came to Polson in 1946 when he was just 12 years old. He had asthma and his parents sent him to Montana to live with his Aunt Irene and Uncle Les Baldwin in the hope the climate would be good for his condition.
Duford had a severe asthmatic attack the day he arrived and said his Uncle Les spoke to other asthmatics around Polson to see what sort of medicine to use for the young boy.
Duford cherishes a heart-wrenching postcard he wrote to his mother after his move to Montana, which begs her to send money so he can take the train home. It must have broken her heart; she kept it through the years.
Duford’s mother wrote poetry, and he still keeps a nostalgic scrapbook filled with neatly typed poems, including one called “Little Shoes,” about Duford’s baby shoes — which he still has.
Right beside that scrapbook is another, bursting with Duford’s Polson High School sports letter, team photos and pictures of a younger Duford with his friends. As a high school athlete, Duford played golf, basketball and baseball before graduating from PHS in 1951.
He noted his Aunt Irene never missed a basketball game. She’d be sitting in the front row, still wearing her apron from the Hut Cafe, owned by his aunt and uncle where the Main Street Market is today.
Maybe because Duford remembers his own dad coming to only one of his baseball games and staying only 10 minutes, Duford always made an effort to be involved with his own children’s activities.
Patti Kugler, Duford’s daughter and also the Lake Country Treasurer, said her parents were always there for her.
“Oh, my god, my parents were wonderful. I was involved in sports. They would travel (to) Libby (and) Stevensville just to watch me play ball,” she said.
Duford also taught his children to work hard for their wage. Daughter Tali Barron said she was brought up ironing her father’s handkerchiefs, shirts, aprons and even undershirts when she was child to earn her five cents per week allowance.
After attending the University of Montana for a year and playing shortstop and some second base for the Griz, Duford moved to Las Vegas. He worked at the Desert Inn Golf Course for four months and saw Hollywood stars such as Danny Kaye and Phil Harris on the links.
Heading home to Polson from Las Vegas one late afternoon, planning to drive through the night, Duford got sleepy and ended up going to sleep and running his car off a cliff in Idaho. He was in a coma for two days but gradually recovered.
“That was my second life,” Duford said, with his first life being his asthma issue.
After returning to Polson as an adult, the first business Duford was involved in was D & H Food Mart, located where Brown’s Jewelry is now in business. The year was 1954, and he was earning 90 cents an hour while learning the meat business.
In 1956, Duford bought the business with Emmett Hirst, a former Safeway manager.
Then in 1970 Duford started a new endeavor — a clothing store.
Ralph Shenemans operated at clothing store where the First Resort is located now. Security State Bank President Hib Hanson and fellow banker Lee Newgard worked with Duford to purchase Shenamans Clothing Store.
“Hib was great in my endeavors,” Duford said, not only with financial help but also with advice.
Hanson arranged for and footed the bill for Duford to spend a week with the tailor at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane to learn about fine tailoring. He also set Duford up with a $40,000 line of credit to stock the store.
Shenamans carried Pendleton but the selection was much smaller than the First Resort’s. Duford has added to the Pendleton items he carries over the years and is now one of the top Pendleton sellers in the nation.
Gordon Harding was Duford’s first partner and the reason for the nautical decorations in the First Resort. The inside of the store looks like a boat, Duford said.
“I’ve always liked to have a partner,” Duford said. When Harding retired, Dick and Candy Wollen partnered with Duford.
“They were fabulous people,” Duford said of all his business partners.
Blanche Rohrenbach worked at First Resort for 25 years, and had good things to say about Duford.
“He was a hard worker and put in long hours, from early in the morning until late at night. Jim was very fair,” Rohrenbach said. “He wanted the best for the town.”
“We were good friends before I went to work for him, and we did a lot of family things together,” she said.
Duford credited his wife and kids with being supportive.
“It’s so important,” Duford said. “She’s a great partner and homemaker.”
During the years his children — Barron, Kugler, Val Broyles, Cherie Gerlack, Dave Duford and Dana Duford — were growing up, he coached baseball.
“I coached kids who are retired now,” Duford said. “They’ll come in and say, ‘He was my coach when I was in 8th grade.’”
Another important aspect in Duford’s life is, “My relationship with Christ has been present along the way.”
Duford served on the Polson City Council for eight years and was president of the Polson Flathead Historical Museum for 10 years.
Other endeavors he was involved in include the initial development of the city golf course, along with John Dowdall and Fred Mielke; the Port Polson Princess cruise boat with 10 other investors; and also several subdivisions.
In 1991 Duford sold out the store, and it was closed for a year.
“Then Tali asked if I would be interested in opening a store with her,” Duford said. “And Hib helped again.”
After Duford retires, he will continue to go to the clothing market with Barron and maybe fill in at the First Resort occasionally. He and his wife, Lou, have traveled to Arizona for baseball spring training for the last 10 years or so. They’ll travel more, Duford said, since they both like to drive and eat out.
Also, and this is just a guess, he may golf more.
