A person recently arrived in Bellevue might look around and assume that what is here now always has been here.

Hardly.

It is due in large part to a group of true leaders who decades ago worked to make Bellevue what it is today.

One of them, Paul Vander Hoek, died April 21. He left us a lasting legacy.

To say that Bellevue was rural in Vander Hoek’s early days here would would give then community far more stature than it deserved. There was no Bellevue Square, high-rise buildings, bustling business – or even bridges across Lake Washington.

Many streets weren’t even paved. If you wanted to get from point A to point B, the best option often was to walk.

How things have changed. And Paul Vander Hoek was one of the key players seeing it get done.

Vander Hoek’s father started Eastside Glass Company in 1945, eight years before Bellevue even incorporated. Paul joined his dad a year later and soon took over. The business was on Main Street in the heart of Old Bellevue. That business would grow and spawn today’s Vander Hoek Corporation which operates a number of businesses.

It was not without reason that he often was referred to as “The Mayor of Main Street.”

Vander Hoek was a founder and past president of both the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce the Bellevue Downtown Development Board. We know the latter today as the Bellevue Downtown Association.

He also was deeply involved in the city’s planning. If you like the way the downtown business is kept from encroaching into nearby neighborhoods, thank Paul. He fought to keep high-intensity development off of Old Main Street and away from the residential neighborhoods bordering Bellevue’s downtown core. Both of those proved wise.

As you might expect of those who helped start their lives from little and a city from nothing, Vander Hoek could be testy. As developer Bob Wallace puts it, “He was kind of a hard-headed Dutchman, not at all bashful about expressing his views.”

For example, he didn’t like the idea of the city’s Downtown Park. His reasoning? The land should be used for development and its value on the tax rolls. To his credit, he changed his mind when he saw the beauty of the finished park.

You can get a hint of what life was like back then – before their were parking garages and skybridges – by checking out old photographs tucked away in part of Bellevue Square.

Even better, visit the Eastside Heritage Center near the Bellevue Botanical Garden. Vander Hoek’s son, Stu, has become a strong supporter of the center, which helps remind us of who we were and how we got here.

One of those there helping carry the load was Paul Vander Hoek. His legacy will benefit us forever.