Note: This obituary appeared March 26 in the Lost Coast Outpost.
Mel Berning, who for 24 years was a civil engineer for the Division of Highways, now Caltrans, died earlier this year.
He was 90.
The beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend passed away peacefully on March 22, surrounded by his loving wife and family.
Mel was born on April 13, 1928, to Gus and Christina (Busch) Berning in Dubuque, Iowa. Thirteen was always a great number for Mel, as he was also the 13th and final child born to his parents.
Raised in North Dakota, Mel worked the farm with his father before going off to college. He always retained the practical, down-to-earth, farm-boy approach to dealing with life’s challenges, and there was rarely an item that he couldn’t patch, fix or reinvent.
A Korean war veteran, Mel served in the Army and was recognized in 2016 with a special “Ambassador for Peace” medal that he wore with great pride. While on leave, Mel’s life was changed forever when he met his sister’s roommate. In his own words, the greatest accomplishment of his long, happy, storied life was the day he married his soulmate, Lee (Peters) Berning, on May 28, 1952.
For nearly 67 loving years, they modeled commitment, mutual respect and faith to their five children: John (Ruth), Jim and Leanne Berning, Marti (John) Campo and Sue (Paul) Segel. Mel and Lee have been blessed with six loving grandchildren: Mike (Miann) and Rachel Berning, Matt and Chris Campo, Emily (Gabe) Ihrig and Jenna Segel.
While with the Division of Highways, Mel left his mark on many sections of Highway 101 on the North Coast. Following retirement from the state, Mel launched a second career, working as a consultant and building inspector for 18 years. His care and attention to detail are evident in a number of schools, hospitals and other public institutions across Northern California.
Mel lived a life of service – to his family, his country, to his beloved St. Bernard’s parish, and to his community. For years, he served as a lector, Eucharistic minister and willing carpenter for church projects.
He enjoyed fishing (especially with his son Jim and grandchildren), baseball (dedicated Giants fan), woodworking, jewelry making (Humboldt Gem and Mineral Society) and simply being with family and friends.
Note: This obituary appeared May 9 in The Union Democrat of Sonora.
Norman Charles Brinkmeyer, who worked 39 years for Caltrans as a civil engineer, finishing his career as head of maintenance for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, died May 1 in Sonora.
He was 93.
Norm was born in North Hollywood on Dec. 15, 1925, at the home of his parents, Arthur and Anna Brinkmeyer. He married Jacquelyn Nell Ohl on Oct. 12, 1945, and they were happily married for 67 years.
Norm enlisted in the Navy at age 17. He graduated from USC in 1948 and was a lifelong Trojan fan. In 1951 he was recalled to active duty in the Korean War. Also in 1951, Norm and Jackie bought a house in Van Nuys, where they lived for 33 years and raised their two sons, Kent and Wayne.
They belonged to several churches during their lives, and Sunday worship and their church friends were always an important part of their life together. They enjoyed square dancing and travel, especially to Hawaii and Alaska.
Upon his retirement in 1984, Norm and Jackie moved to their beloved mountain home in Arnold and from there took many memorable trips by travel trailer. Jackie developed Parkinson’s, and, in 2012, Norm and Jackie moved to Skyline Place, where they met and were cared for by many dedicated and good-hearted people. Norm, too, lovingly, loyally, and patiently took care of Jackie.
He had a tough time after her passing, but recovered enough to have almost another five years at Skyline, enjoying his card-playing friends, visiting with present and former staff, and going out for meals at his favorite restaurants whenever opportunity arose.
Family was central to Norm’s life. He is survived by his two sons, Kent and Wayne; granddaughters, Megan and Erin; sister, Dorothy Grade; brother-in-law, Glenn Grade; nephews, Brian and Cameron Grade; step-granddaughters, Gina Escandon and Nikki Collazo; step-great grandchildren, Cruz and Kenzie Escandon, and Olivia Collazo; and daughters-in-law, Anne and Sue. All will miss him greatly.
A memorial service was held May 25 at Skyline Place Senior Living in Sonora.
Note: This obituary appeared in the May 9 online version of the Lassen County Times.
Phillip Stanley Butcher, who worked in the Division of Highways (now Caltrans) construction survey department as a transit “gunner” back in the 1960s, died on June 19.
He was 84.
Phillip was born on May 28, 1935, and grew up in the San Diego area.
Nancy Ryman, one of Phillip’s three surviving siblings, said he will truly be missed by his family and friends, who loved him dearly.
Roy Riesgo had this to say about his onetime Division of Highways colleague:
“I first met Phil when I joined his survey party in 1964 that consisted of John Barnes, party chief; Bobby Moore, head chain-man; Rick Stevens, rear chain-man; and me, the most important member as the fifth wheel! While working on that crew I discovered that Phil had graduated in 1953 from Kearny High School, my alma mater, and his sister Mary was in my class graduating in 1958.
“Phil and I hit it off and he was always a nice, kind person to me. I last saw Phil this past April at a monthly luncheon of old Kearny graduates that get together once a month at Filippi’s Italian restaurant in Kearny Mesa.”
Phillip is survived by his son, Mark Butcher, and Mark’s wife, Gina; his grandchildren, Brandi, Justina, Ryan and Tyler; his great-grandchildren, Isabella, Jaxson and Maicie; his siblings, Walt Butcher, Ray Butcher and Nancy Ryman; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by his grandson Zachary Butcher; and his siblings, Edward, Charles and Mary.
A graveside service was to be held on at 11 a.m. on July 19 at the Miramar National Cemetery, 5795 Nobel Drive in San Diego.
Note: This obituary appeared in the May 9 online version of the Lassen County Times.
John Dawson, who for more than 30 years was a road maintenance worker for Caltrans, died unexpectedly on April 7 at the Renown Medical Center in Reno.
He was 71.
John was born in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, to parents George and Jeanne Dawson on Feb. 4, 1948.
He and his family moved back to the U.S. when he was in his early teens. John joined the Marines when he was 18 and served in combat in the Vietnam War. He was proud to be a Marine and happy to serve his country.
John lived in Susanville for more than 35 years. He enjoyed golfing with his sons and friends very much.
He is survived by his wife, Linda; his sons, George and David; and three sisters, Nancy, Linda and Pat.
Note: This obituary appeared in the June 26 online edition of the Calaveras Enterprise.
Former Caltrans bridge engineer Herbert Jensen, 84, of San Andreas passed away peacefully at his home on June 19.
A native of New York, Herbert moved to California in 1961 and was a resident of San Andreas for 43 years.
Herbert is survived by his loving wife of 57 years, Dorothy (Parsons) Jensen; children, Christian (Gayle) Jensen, Kristina (William) Shurbert, and Erik (Kelley) Jensen; grandchildren, Davis, Autumn (Luke), Jensen, Beau, Rosalie and Melissa; brother, Theodore Jensen; sister, Elizabeth Jensen; nephews, Erik and Andrew; and many friends and neighbors.
Son Christian works for Caltrans as a senior transportation engineer for Local Assistance in Sacramento. Daughter Kristina also works for Caltrans, as a transportation engineer in Structures Maintenance and Investigations in Sacramento.
Herbert was a veteran of the Korean War, serving in the Navy aboard the minesweeper U.S.S. Salute. After his time in the Navy, he went on to earn a degree in civil engineering from Syracuse University. He is a lifetime member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and Tau Beta Pi.
Recruited by Caltrans Bridge Department, Herbert was the resident engineer for the Tuolumne River Bridge (James Robert Memorial Bridge) and Chief of Externally Financed Bridge Projects. He retired in 1992.
Herbert lived a full life, enjoying hunting, fishing and family trips to Oregon for crabbing. He spent time with his grandchildren and traveling to visit distant relatives. A gardener, he grew fruits, vegetables and flowers. Reading, bird watching and researching genealogy rounded out his interests.
Contributions in his name can be made to: Achieve Kids, 1212 McGinness Ave, San Jose, CA 95127; or the hospice organization of your choice.
Ronald David Lemmon, who worked for Caltrans for 40 years, died Sept. 29, 2018, after a brief illness.
The Citrus Heights resident was 87.
Ron was born on May 19, 1931, to Miriam Elizabeth and Chester D. Lemmon. While earning his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno, he worked on Caltrans road crews. He then went into the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and was stationed at Fort Ord (near Monterey) and Fort Belvoir (in Virginia).
After his military service, Ron returned to Caltrans and worked out of San Bernardino. In December 1972, he was promoted to headquarters in Sacramento and later he worked out of District 4 for a few years before returning to headquarters. He retired in 1996.
Ron and his wife of 58 years, Margaret, bowled in the Caltrans League for many years. They were also active in Job’s Daughters and Eastern Star. They loved to travel and went to China, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden, to name but a few of their destinations.
Ron was preceded in death by Margaret. He is survived by their two children, John and Susan, and two grandsons.
His Celebration of Life was held May 19 at the Folsom Masonic Center.
Note: The first part of this obituary is adapted from what appeared July 12 on Civil + Structural Engineer Media’s website, csengineermag.com.
Charles “Chuck” Seim, P.E., who worked 25 years for what is now Caltrans, died April 28 in San Francisco.
He was 93.
Chuck served the industry for more than 50 years, 24 of which were spent as Senior Vice President for T.Y. Lin International (TYLI), which he joined in 1980.
Chuck was known as a specialist in long-span bridges, with noteworthy U.S. projects such as the seismic retrofit of the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge and the signature Arthur Ravenel Jr. (Cooper River) Bridge in South Carolina. He also served as a consultant to the TYLI bridge design team for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge New East Span, a role he performed with enthusiasm while well into his 80s.
Chuck’s bridge engineering expertise was also applied to international projects for TYLI. These include the Lake Maracaibo Bridge in Venezuela, the Bridge of the Americas Crossing of the Panama Canal in Panama, and the Nanjing Third Yangtze River Bridge in China.
Chuck remained active in industry organizations throughout his long career, including the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), where he was a life member, and the International Bridge Conference (IBC). In 2006, the IBC awarded Chuck with the prestigious John A. Roebling Medal for lifetime achievement in bridge engineering.
“Chuck was a great friend, mentor, and colleague to us all,” said Marwan Nader, a high-ranking TYLI executive. “Chuck was an integral part of the T.Y. Lin International Bridge Team, and his passion for bridges was truly admirable.”
As part of his consulting business, Chuck had a website in which he recounted his career in state service:
“I have been very lucky to be in the right place at the right time! I don’t know whether I was the right person or not, but I was there; I worked hard, and I did the best that I could!
“The right place was the San Francisco Bay Area, and the right time was in the mid-1950s. This is when the Interstate Highway system was started, and, importantly for my career, this was when the building of the long-span toll bridges in California began. I started work as a Junior Engineer with the State of California, Division of Bay Toll Crossings.
“My introduction to working on large toll bridges was the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, which was to cross the Northern Bay between these two cities. When this Bridge opened, the reconstruction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge followed. Then came the new replacement Crossing for the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, and The San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge, quickly followed by the San Mateo. Then the proposed cable-stayed Southern Crossing of San Francisco Bay was designed, almost to completion, but was not constructed.
“Finally, there was the Dumbarton Bridge crossing the Southern end of San Francisco Bay. So I worked on all of the nine California toll bridges until California ran out of toll bridges to build!
“Over the next five years I was the Maintenance Engineer for the nine State-Owned Toll Bridges. During that time, I was asked to inspect the deck of the Golden Gate Bridge, which then led to my work on a project to replace the corroded concrete deck of the Golden Gate Bridge with a new orthotropic steel deck. So I am one of the few engineers fortunate enough to have worked on all 10 of the California toll bridges!”
Note: This obituary was submitted on behalf of Chris Chalk, District 5 Maintenance Manager.
It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Gabriel Velonza, an Equipment Operator II. Gabe died suddenly on June 14.
He was 55.
He has been a valued and respected member of our Caltrans family since June 2006 and will be missed immensely. His passion, dedication and attention to detail challenged us to be the best version of ourselves every day.
Our prayers go out to his wife and fellow Caltrans employee, Paula Kilgore Voigt, who has been a wonderful support for him, and his daughters, Lindsay and Lauren.
A Memorial Disc Golf Event was held June 22 at the Evergreen Disc Golf Course in Goleta. Friends and family gathered that evening, too.
Please keep Gabe’s family in your thoughts as they go through this difficult time.
