There is irony in the timing of former Spokane Mayor Neal Fosseen’s death. There’s also a lesson, if we’re open to it.

In contrast with the frantic scramble now under way among political office seekers, Fosseen was remembered this week as a civic leader who had to be coaxed to accept the mantle of power. It wasn’t prestige or influence or material reward that enticed him to run for mayor in 1960. He enjoyed those things already. It was civic duty and community welfare at a seminal time in the city’s history.

And when he did engage in a political contest, it was with none of the division and acrimony that passes for political discourse today.

There will be those who say that Fosseen, who died Monday at 95, emerged from a good ‘ol boy power structure, and they are right. Those were the days when a handful of plugged-in brokers held the tiller, and few members of the community questioned the arrangement.

That wasn’t the case in Spokane alone. Such noblesse oblige was common in cities nationwide. And if the exclusive, closed-door approach makes us uncomfortable today, it got things done. If the right people were in the mix, communities like Spokane benefited.

Neal Fosseen’s legacy affirms that he was one of the right people. In business, in politics, in civic engagement, in philanthropy – the profile of 21st century Spokane is measurably better because of Neal Fosseen and the way he met the community’s expectations in a mid-20th century environment.

He was instrumental in the upgrading of Spokane’s airport, even though he risked political backlash to do it. He played a major role in Expo ‘74 after a more conventional run at urban renewal efforts ran into public opposition. He fostered positive relationships abroad, through the Sister Cities program, and at home, including with Fairchild Air Force Base and the military community.

He repeatedly reached into his own pocket to support causes that nourished Spokane, and he persuaded his peers to do the same.

He managed political differences by addressing issues rather than personalities and staying focused on the community interests he shared with those who had conflicting ideas about how to achieve them.

And while he was part of a limited circle of influence, Fosseen was also ahead of his time. He recognized, even in that hierarchical era, the need to enlarge the circle of participation.

In the early planning days that led to Expo ‘74, historian J. William T. Youngs describes in “The Fair and the Falls,” representatives of 102 community groups assembled for a meeting that Fosseen opened. He quickly turned it over to a popular local educator, Joe Tewinkel, and bid the participants farewell, saying, “Call if you need me.”

In today’s leadership vernacular, that’s known as empowerment. Or, as John Quincy Adams once put it, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

As if to affirm Adams’ wisdom, current Mayor Jim West says he looked upon Fosseen as a personal inspiration. Spokane lost a true leader this week, but his legacy endures.