Obituaries
Keng Mun Low, senior bridge engineer
Photo courtesy of Keng Mun Low's family
Note: The following obituary appeared on the East Lawn Cemetery website in February.
Longtime senior bridge engineer Keng Mun Low passed away on Feb. 10 at the young age of 57.
He was born in a small town of Bentong, Malaysia, on Nov. 14, 1965, the first son born to Low Teck-Hoi and Fu Sai-Mui. His younger brother, Keng Choong made the family complete in 1967.
Keng Mun was already independent at a young age. He left home at the age of 15 to attend school in Kuala Lumpur, followed by Singapore Polytech for higher education at 17, and at the age of 21, he crossed the Pacific to attend college in Arkansas. While in college, he interned and worked at various jobs (such as blueberry farms) to earn money to travel home to see his family.
During the summer heat of 1990, he trekked from Arkansas to California, with no air conditioning and bucket of ice on the passenger seat on his VW Scirocco, to work for Caltrans in District 6.
Ask any of his colleagues during his 33-year career at Caltrans, and they would tell you Keng Mun loved his job and was good at it. He could discuss bridge design and construction endlessly, providing guidance and support with his soft-spoken approach.
Keng Mun deeply treasured the lifelong friendships formed along each step of his journey. He loved receiving updates about his friends and family, and always looked forward to reunions around the world.
In 1999, he suavely invited Tety (a foodie) to lunch, convincing her he was so hungry, he could eat a horse. The rest was history. They married in 2000 and welcomed their sons Ian, Adam and Jacob. Although he wasn’t a man of big stature, his heart was of a giant. His family meant everything to him. If the boys would still let him, you would see Keng Mun hold his kids’ hands while crossing the street, even though they are 22-, 20- and 18-year-olds.
Among the many things Keng Mun enjoyed was bingeing on Korean drama (K-drama). His favorite phrase was “Sarang-eh” (love you) which was music to Tety’s ears. If his vocal cords weren’t damaged, we would have seen him on “American Idol” as he liked to belt his Conway Twitty and Rod Stewart’s songs. Sadly though, he could only claim that he was just a badminton and chess champion in college.
Keng Mun is survived by his mother, brother, wife and their three sons, as well as many family members spanning from the United States, Malaysia and Singapore.
He will be immeasurably missed but eternally loved.
Michael Rodney Pope, bridge engineer
Photo courtesy of Michael's family
Note: The following obituary appeared on DignityMemorial.com earlier this year.
Bridge engineer Michael Rodney Pope, 61, of Auburn died on Feb. 25.
He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Lisa; his three children, Matthew, Brandon (Darian), and Taryn (Matthew Boal); his grandchildren, Riona and Sofina; his sister, Cathie; his mother-in-law, Patsy Van Dyke; and a host of extended family and friends.
Mike graduated from California State University, Sacramento with bachelor’s degrees in business and civil engineering.
He was a devoted employee of Caltrans for over 30 years working his way up to senior bridge engineer, bridge design branch chief.
Mike was a man full of life, energy, and generosity for others. He was an avid cyclist riding cross country three times as well as completing many local century and double century rides. He was also a loyal spin and fitness class member of Cal Fit and Auburn Racquet Club and appreciated the camaraderie of the gym community. He enjoyed living in the Auburn area and could be seen walking most everywhere regardless of the weather.
He was a dedicated fan of Placer High School Hillmen football, serving the kickoff team dinner for 12 years as well as watching in the stands. He also loved the San Francisco 49ers.
He was a member at Sierra Grace Fellowship Church for many years.
Robert Vincent Syverson, District 1 biologist
Photo courtesy of Robert's family
Note: The following obituary appeared on the Lost Coast Outpost website on May 22.
Caltrans biologist Robert Vincent Syverson died on March 27 at age 56.
Born in Endicott, New York, Robert was the youngest of four boys. His parents, Marsh and Dian, moved the family to San Jose, when Robert was a young boy, and that’s where he spent the majority of his youth.
In part due to his rambunctious nature, in his late teens, Robert moved to live with his uncle George in Columbus, Mississippi, for a couple of years. During that time, they lived on Columbus Air Force Base with George’s family. As a young man on the base, he had a dream of being a helicopter pilot, it was then he learned of his glaucoma that caused difficulty over the years.
Traveling back to California to attend his grandfather’s service, Robert took the opportunity to move back to San Jose. He moved in with his parents, and as he told it, his dad told him he had three days to get a job and pay rent. And, so he did! Robert worked various jobs from Home Depot to construction project management.
It was at the young age of 21, Robert became the father to Brittany. He was a very caring, giving soul who loved to teach others. He greatly enjoyed and loved raising his daughter.
A victim of a vehicle accident in his mid-20s that left him with a serious back injury, Robert had the opportunity to re-evaluate life. He was strong enough to work through the pain from getting off pharmaceuticals with water aerobics and light stretching to eventually mountain biking and jumping the wake, wakeboarding! When Brittany went to live with her mother, Robert hit the reset button. He earned his associate degree from Evergreen College in San Jose. In 1996 he moved to Arcata to attend Humboldt State University. He graduated with a bachelor’s in natural resource planning and maintained a lifelong friendship with roommate Jerry “Bones” Snow.
After graduation, Robert held jobs as a PG&E consultant and for the city of Arcata. In 2001 he started his 22-year career with Caltrans, first in planning, then as a field maintenance biologist.
He worked all over the district with the Caltrans maintenance crews to protect and enhance the environment when completing maintenance projects, and for storm response. Robert worked in rivers and streams improving fish passage and overall watershed health. Many a tree he planted and saved with creative multidisciplinary solutions.
Wildflower surveys made some of his favorite days at work and he took beautiful wildflower photos. A local artist at one time bought his photos to recreate as paintings.
As a bicyclist and advocate, he encouraged safe riding on the highways, from contributing to the bicycle touring guides to riding to set timing for bike loops on bridges.
Robert’s outgoing personality netted him many colleagues as friends. Most of all, he enjoyed sharing the beauty of protecting the natural world with anyone who would listen. As he called it teaching folks to “pet frogs.”
In 1999, as neighbors at the laundromat, Robert met his future wife, Brenda. She moved to Arizona, where two years later for their birthdays, they took their first of many trips to Sedona, Arizona. Shortly thereafter, Brenda moved back to Humboldt where she and Robert joined their cat families (Weather, Sprocket, and KBear) along with tortoise Kokopelli.
They resided in Fortuna for 15 years and found the most amazing, supportive neighbor friends (Brandon and Lluvia, Noah, Eli, Jim and Terry, Aaron, Mark, Debi and Mike, Penny, Mr. McKnight and others). Robert and Brenda’s union of marriage ended in 2019, however the love remained.
Robert is survived by mother Dian Syverson; brothers Mark Syverson (Mary Jean) and Joe Syverson (Anafe); uncles George Refeedie and Marlo Syverson; cousins Ali Colton Syverson, Shannon Primasing (David); daughter Brittany Loofbourrow; niece Danielle; nephews Joey, Tommy, Matthew; and many other cousins and second cousins.
Robert was proceeded in death by father Marschelle Syverson and brother Paul Syverson.