Longtime Bellevue resident Paul Vander Hoek died April 21 at age 94. He was a fixture in Bellevue politics, development and business.

Vander Hoek’s influence remains evident in places like Old Bellevue – still quaint and charming amid the towering downtown skyscrapers – through the trail of Eastside businesses he spawned, and with every block of zoning that helped turn the city into an economic powerhouse.

Vander Hoek was like a founding father in terms of the city’s half-century growth spurt, always forthright about his opinions and eager to share them, according to friends and family.

“He was kind of a hard-headed Dutchman, not at all bashful about expressing his views,” said Bellevue developer Bob Wallace.

Vander Hoek and his family owned multiple Main Street properties – along with Eastside Glass and Paint, a company his father founded in 1945 – during Bellevue’s most formative years.

The city’s planning officials asked for his input, along with that of other key downtown stakeholders like Wallace, Kemper Freeman, Sr., Ken Greenbaum and Puget Power (now Puget Sound Energy).

The goal, especially in the 1970s, was to reach consensus on how to shape a viable business center for the city.

“Bellevue was on the verge of becoming a dust bowl, and all the leaders in the community got together and decided to work together,” Wallace said.

Vander Hoek became a spokesman for land and business owners. He also founded the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce and the Bellevue Downtown Association, formerly known as the Bellevue Downtown Development Board.

“Not everyone agreed with his ideas or his purpose at times, but they all respected him,” said Stu Vander Hoek, one of Paul’s three sons.

Vander Hoek fought to keep high-intensity development off of Old Main Street and away from the residential neighborhoods bordering Bellevue’s downtown core – both of which have proven to be popular decisions.

But not everything Paul fought for was so well-regarded. He opposed the construction of Bellevue’s Downtown Park, saying the property needed to be on the city’s tax roll.

He changed his mind after seeing the park in its completed form.

“I think everyone understood over time that that was a good investment,” Stu said.

Paul was born in Elk, Wash., in 1916. He grew up in Spokane, moved to Seattle as a teenager and played in the Salvation Army band during high school.

The Vander Hoek family moved to Factoria in the 1930s. Paul said it took him all day to get there from Ballard, with his trip including rides on a streetcar, a cable car, a ferry, and then a 10-mile hike.

Paul worked in logging, millwork sales and for the Army Corps of Engineers during The Depression. He took over Eastside Glass and moved it from the family’s two-story Factoria farmhouse to Main Street in 1946.

The Vander Hoeks purchased additional property on Main Street in subsequent years and, in 1973, constructed a warehouse just south of the neighborhood.

Paul and his wife, Reda, built the Main Place retail and office building on Main in 1977, and their children founded Weathervane Window Company three years later.

Paul’s sons, Ted, Lance, and Stu, formed the Vander Hoek Corporation to manage the family’s growing real-estate holdings in 1988. That newly formed company built multiple projects on the Eastside, including Parmac Industrial Park and Parmac 100 in Kirkland, and Courtyard Off Main in Bellevue.

The Vander Hoek Corporation also redeveloped Main Place into a new mixed-used complex following a fire that destroyed the original building in 2001.

Ted founded Vander Hoek Windows and Doors in 2003.

Paul eventually earned the nickname “Mayor of Main Street” for his involvement with the politics affecting his family’s Bellevue properties. His other interests included gardening, golfing, fishing, hunting and rock collecting, according to friends.

Bellevue Mayor Don Davidson describes Paul as his biggest political influence, and the main reason he decided to run for office despite having a successful dental practice.

“It’s leaders like Paul that can lead you down that trail,” he said. “He dedicated a lot of his passion and his heart to Bellevue, beyond just his business.

“He taught me to stick with it. If you have a good vision, you stick with it.”

A celebration of Paul’s life is planned at 3 p.m. May 4 at Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church, 3030 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue.