A leader of Houghton’s community has died. Mayor Bob Backon passed away Sunday, Feb. 15, at Omega House at age 83.
Backon held several important roles in the Copper Country. He began his service to the local community as a member of the Houghton Planning Commission in the late 1980s. He was elected to the City Council for the first time in 1990 and remained a vital member of the leadership team until his passing. In 2008, Backon became mayor of the city.
Backon was a mediating force as both a referee of high school sports and as part of the city of Houghton council. Councilor Robert McGowen says he saw Mayor Backon as a mentor when he was first elected to the council 24 years ago. Adding that Backon brought a smile to each meeting and made sure every councilor was prepared to get to work.
“He was big on the smart zone, helping to develop that. Anything he could do for kids. So he didn’t just think about one direction. He thought about all directions. And his wisdom was absolutely amazing. And his memory was amazing, too,” McGowen said.
Mayor Pro Tem Phillip Foltz adds that no one ever outworked Backon.
“He rarely took credit for anything. He always made sure that, you know, he worked hard to get consensus and give everybody a fair chance to say what they needed to say and do what they needed to do so that we could all get pointed in the right direction and come up with the solutions that I think the folks in town expected from all of us,” Foltz said.
Education was a large part of Backon’s life. He taught at Houghton High School and even coached the school’s golf teams, earning championships in 1989 and 1996. Backon was also a referee, where he would encourage student athletes during games and preached sportsmanship on the court.
“I don’t know anybody that had him for class that didn’t like him. All the kids that grew up with our daughters, they talked about Bob, about Mr. Backon and Mr. B. He would go by the name, a lot of them called him Mr. B,” said Tom Merz, chair of the Houghton Planning Commission.
In the council chambers he sometimes took on a similar role. Merz recalls two controversial projects the city undertook while Backon was a community leader included the parking deck demolition and the closure of his former workplace, the old Houghton High School building. Merz says in the case of the high school, the community needed strong leaders like Backon. While the community wanted to keep the building standing, Backon and the city council knew it was a public safety concern that contained lead paint and asbestos.
“We had about three companies come look at it. And the people were not happy about that. But Bob voted to tear it down because it was a liability. And eventually the city ended up owning it. If someone had gotten hurt inside that building, kids had a habit of breaking into the building and running around the inside of it, believe it or not,” Merz said.
McGowen says it was important to Backon that councilors were well informed and very involved in the community.
“Anytime there was community event, there he was. Walking down the street, there he was. He used to be the starter at the golf course, stuff like that. If you went to a Michigan Tech basketball game, there he was. And he always had time to talk to people. No matter where he was. If you ran into him at Jim’s Food Mart, there he’d be sitting there talking with three other people. Just always giving up his time to help and listen to the community,” McGowen said.
“If anybody in the world wanted to complain about what life had dealt him, it certainly could have been Bob. That was never the kind of person he was. He was just outstandingly always grateful for everything he had, always grateful for the people around him,” Foltz said.
The Memorial Chapel Funeral in Hancock will work with the family to arrange funeral details. The city of Houghton will need to appoint a new member to fill the vacancy left by Backon’s passing. Mayor Pro Tem Foltz will run meetings until a new mayor is found.
