After leaving Federal Way for many years after initially moving here as a teen, Kenneth Pratt returned, and stays actively involved in serving the city.

Pratt, 79, was born in and grew up in Seattle, but eventually when he was 19, he and his family moved to Federal Way. He was still living with his parents at the time, so when they bought a trailer in Belmor Mobile Park in the 1960s, he tagged along.

Pratt said one day their neighbor had him go pick up her daughter from the hospital, and that’s when he met his wife. Soon after the first meeting, they got married and moved to Seattle.

Pratt then worked in automotive parts sales for many years, and due to the job, he and his wife moved around a lot. He said they moved around the Seattle area, then to Oregon, then to Auburn and then Covington. After he started working at a dealership in Bellevue, he and his wife bought a house in Federal Way.

Pratt said it was about 1998 when they bought a house behind Decatur High School because his wife’s mother, who still lived at Belmor Mobile Park, was sick. After a few years, they then decided to buy a condo in Colonial Forest where they still live to this day.

Pratt said when he first moved to Federal Way in the 1960s, it was a much smaller city. He said around 320th Street, it was all cow pastures, and there weren’t any businesses like there are today.

Despite how different the city was in the 1960s, since he’s moved back in the late 1990s, he said the city is not wildly different from then to today and he still enjoys it here. Pratt said many people worry about crime, but he said he feels safe walking all over the city.

Pratt continued to work until 2014 when he retired. When he retired, he and his wife began traveling all over the United States. Pratt said that they’ve driven to every state on the mainland.

Of all the states he’s traveled to, Pratt said he liked Pennsylvania because of the Amish. He really enjoys seeing how the Amish live and how they do many things the old fashioned way without any technology.

Despite the travel expedition after retirement, when that was over, he needed to find something to do. Pratt said he’s a type A kind of person, so he always has to be doing things, so he thought a way to stay busy would be to join some city commissions.

Pratt said about four years ago, he was reading the Federal Way Mirror, and he saw that the city was looking for commission members. He signed up to be on the Civil Service Commission, Salary Commission and the Senior Commission. He said the city told him he’s the only person who’s on three commissions.

“I can’t sit down. I can’t. So I had to do something,” Pratt said. “I didn’t want to sit down and die, you know, because that’s what happens when people, you know, retire. They don’t get out and do stuff.”

Since he’s been on the commission, a project he’s happy with is the senior resource fair. He said for the May 15 event, more booths are expected than last year. As a commission member, he also helps out with the senior lunches multiple times a month.

Pratt said a Federal Way Senior Center ran by the city would be ideal, but he imagines financially, it’s not an easy thing to do. Pratt said because Federal Way is a newer city than most in the area, there are probably other ventures to allocate money toward.

One project he’s been working on recently is a survey of seniors in the area to gauge what kind of activities they would enjoy. Although there isn’t a senior center, he would like to start programming two to three times a week at the Community Center where seniors can engage in activities.

In his survey, he asks seniors what they would enjoy doing during this recreational time. He said the most popular activities are, pinochle, bunko and cribbage — but surprisingly bingo was not at the top.

Pratt said one of his favorite activities in Federal Way is going on walks. He’s a big fan of the BPA trail.

Regarding food, Pratt said he really enjoys Burger Express. He said there used to be a restaurant called Rose’s,which he really enjoyed, but it no longer exists.

Kenneth Pratt. Photo by Joshua Solorzano/The Mirror