Harold Ford, retired executive director of what was then Southeastern Poultry & Egg Association, now the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association, died December 14.

In 1954, Ford, a Kentucky native, joined the association staff at its headquarters in Richmond, Virginia.  He had previously served as assistant commissioner of agriculture in Kentucky.  In 1957, Ford was named executive secretary of the association and the headquarters moved to Decatur, Georgia.  In 1961, he left the association to join Mar-Jac Poultry.  In 1967, after several years with Mar-Jac and Sanderson Farms, he returned to the association as executive secretary at the request of the board of directors.  He grew the organization’s signature event, the International Poultry Expo, still held annually in Atlanta, to become the largest poultry industry convention and trade show in the world.    He retired in 1992.

The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association foundation is named after him, along with the organizaton’s highest recognition, the Harold E. Ford Lifetime Achievement Award.  He also was inducted into the Poultry Industry Hall of Fame.  “Harold was passionate about our industry and about our organization, and we will be forever grateful for his leadership and the example he set for service to the poultry industry,” John Starkey, president of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, said.

After retiring, Ford was active in such organization as the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Prevent Blindness Georgia, and the Atlanta Community Food Bank.  Ford served in the U.S. Marine Corp during World War II in the South Pacific.  He was proceeded in death by his wife Wanda.  He is survived by three daughters,  along with grandchildren and great grandchildren.