SCOE Mourns Longtime Trustee Douglas 'Doug' Ford

DIXON, CA — Solano County's education community is mourning the loss of Dixon resident and longtime Solano County Board of Education Trustee Douglas "Doug" J. Ford, who died Thursday, Feb. 14 at the age of 87 following a long battle with cancer.

"Our hearts overflow with sadness at Doug's passing," Solano County Superintendent of Schools Lisette Estrella-Henderson said Wednesday in a news release. "He was very passionate about education, especially career pathways and biotechnology."

Ford represented Trustee Area 6 on the Solano County Board of Education from 2001 to 2018, serving as vice president of the board in 2006 and as board president in 2012.

"He was a member of the Solano County Office of Education team for 17 years, and we grieve along with his family," Estrella-Henderson said.

Prior to serving with SCOE, Ford, a retired U.S Air Force lieutenant colonel and former university teacher of history, political science, sociology and anthropology, represented Trustee Area 1 on the Solano Community College Governing Board from 1992 to 1996.

According to SCOE, Ford's dedicated service to students also led him to: volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America; become active in community efforts to pass a school bond for the Dixon Unified School District’s new high school (finished in 2007); chaperone numerous school field trips; help with career fairs; conduct mock interviews for high school students; chair the Dixon Chamber of Commerce scholarship committee; and write a bi-weekly newspaper column often on the topic of education.

"I will always cherish my last visit with Doug the week before his passing," Estrella-Henderson fondly recalled. "We discussed economics. [...] Education has lost one of its most fervent advocates."

Photo courtesy Solano County Office of Education; background image by Renee Schiavone/Patch