A celebration of life service is planned for Saturday, Jan. 5, for longtime Kent business owner Warren Secord.
Secord, 81, of Kent, who opened his first automotive shop in town in 1965, died Sept. 29, but the family just released his obituary this week and announced a service from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Maple View Middle School, 18200 SE 240th St., in Covington.
He opened S&S Valley Tire in 1965 in Kent, according to his obituary. Although he sold the business, Warren Secord Automotive & Tire still operates in Kent. He became a Rotary Club of Kent member and had perfect attendance for all 53 years of his membership.
Secord worked with the Kent and Tahoma school districts to design automotive shops at five high schools and served on the committee to oversee the opening of the shops.
He served on numerous boards, including National Tire Dealers, NW Tire Dealers Hall of Fame, Rotary Club of Kent president and the Firestone Advisor Council. He was involved in selling race tires with Parnelli Jones, Firestone, Goodyear, NASCAR NW Tour, SCCA, Cascade Club, NASCAR Truck Series, Drags and Pro Mazda. Racing was a huge piece of his life and his second family.
Secord was born Oct. 18, 1936 in Seattle. He was known around his neighborhood as the kid that mowed all the lawns, had two paper routes and drove the tires off his car before he could drive. Married to Barbara Stevens Secord for 36 years, they built a home on Spring Lake in Renton.
Survivors include his wife Jerre, sister Bonnie Treece (Keith), daughter Kim Walley (Brent), granddaughters Jordan Walley, Kendall Walley, nephews Mark Stevens, Todd Stevens and his Rotary Club of Kent family.
Donations may be made to the following scholarship funds:
• Warren Secord Automotive Scholarship (Green River College) greenrivercollegefoundation.org or mail to GRC Foundation 12401 SE 320th St Auburn, WA 98092.
• Warren Secord Automotive Scholarship (Renton Technical College) rtc.edu/scholarship-donation.
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