Person:Patrick Wallace (3)

Obituary

Wallace, Patrick Monroe,

born September 12, 1929, passed away to Heaven on October 27, 2012, with his loving wife, Carolyn by his side. Survived by his children, John, Greg, Cheryl and Grant; stepsons Jim and Jon Veregge; grand children Patrick, Katherine, Nathan, William, Daniel, Christina, Alyssa, Spencer, and Sophia.

Pat was a graduate of Santa Clara University majoring in Civil Engineering where he met and married Jean Prather, the loving Mother of his children, who passed away in 1985.

Pat served as 1st. Lieutenant in the U.S. Army with the Guided Missile Program, had two successful careers as an aerospace engineer with McDonnell Douglas and established two civil engineering companies: Community Engineering Services and Wallace Engineering Corporation.

Pat and Carolyn were married in Kauai, Hawaii on September 6, 1986. They loved traveling the world with their wonderful friends and family and regularly visited their place in Kauai where they will eventually rest together in the blue waters by their place in Princeville, Kauai.

Memorial Service will be held at 11 am, November 3, 2012, at Shannon-Bryan Mortuary, 137 E. Maple, Orange, CA.

[Published in Orange County Register on November 2, 2012].

Biography

This is the story of Pat Wallace’s life as told to his wife Carolyn during their twenty-six years together:

Pat Monroe Wallace was born on September 12, 1929. When Pat was born his parents lived in Hawthorne, California (Los Angeles), and his Dad worked as a cook in a restaurant owned by his parents.

In an effort to survive the “Great Depression,” and to provide a better life for their family, Pat’s Dad and Mom moved to Northern California in the Placerville area.

Times were difficult, and it was quite a struggle for the hard working family to provide for the necessities of life. Pat’s Dad was a good family man for the first ten years of their marriage, but following the sudden death of Pat’s older brother Jimmy (congenital heart defect), Pat’s Dad grew more and more depressed and developed alcohol and gambling habits creating even more problems for the family.

Pat had a very strong loving, giving and Christian Mother, and along with her sister “Aunt Monie” provided a continuous positive and Christian direction for the lives of Pat and his two older sisters. Aunt Monie made sure that the Wallace children read good books, received the Weekly Reader, listened to good music, etc. I am sure she was responsible for Pat’s interest in classical music. Pat’s Mother was also very proud that all three of her children achieved college degrees, and after her children were grown, she decided to go to college, herself, taking Education and later teaching school for several years.

You all have heard the story about Pat going hunting when he was about 11 when he shot the buck right between the eyes. There is another story in which the “real” Pat comes through: he went hunting with his Dad and a friend of his Dad’s. They saw what they believed to be some deer in the brush ahead. The two men went on ahead of Pat telling him they would scare the deer out of the bushes and told him where to stand with directions for him to shoot the deer as it came out. Pat did as told, but when the deer came out, it was a beautiful doe. He looked at the doe, put his gun in place and then said – “shoo deer” and scared the deer away. Pat’s Dad and his friend never knew that Pat ever saw a deer.

John Donn Senior, a close family friend, served as a surrogate father and was a very positive influence on the Wallace family. They looked forward to weekly trips in the Donn Packard automobile (which was quite a thrill for them) to a nearby lake for picnics and swimming. Mr. Donn also conducted Sunday school sessions at his home every week for the neighborhood children since there were no churches nearby.

Pat and his sisters attended school in a small schoolhouse out in the country near Placerville. Some of the years they were lucky to ride in a small yellow bus to school where a wonderful teacher named Mrs. Jones served not only as their teacher, but also was a mentor, leader, and friend to her students. She taught for many years, and Pat, along with many of her students ,kept in touch with her. Pat also attended her retirement party in Placerville.

Pat and Carolyn went back to Placerville for Pat’s 50th high school reunion. It was fun for Pat to see all his old friends. For me, it was like going “back in time.” Many of his school friends still smoked (Pat quit “cold turkey” after his by-pass heart surgery in 1984), and they all drank whiskey. No white wine for them. Pat rented a car, and he was able to find two of the houses he had lived in as a child. They were small but fairly well-kept and were on two or three acres of very pretty property. He had helped raise ducks, turkeys, chickens, goats, a cow, etc., while he was growing up. He sold his ducks to the Safeway store.

Pat’s father left the Placerville area when Pat was about 13 years old.

Pat had lots of exciting adventures in high school with his many friends. One of his friends and Pat took the friends Dad’s boat out one night in San Francisco Bay, and the engine stopped. They were floating towards Alcatraz Island and scared to death, but luckily they were able to get the engine started just in time. They never did that again!

When Pat’s sister Caroline started UC Berkeley, they moved to Berkeley, and Pat attended Berkeley High School for one year.

Before Pat’s senior year in high school, he and two other friends had the opportunity to work for a good friend’s father who owned a large logging company. They worked hard helping the professional loggers, but also had time to hike, backpack, fish, and have lots of fun and adventures. He had great memories of that summer. That summer led to his love for hiking and backpacking, and years later he took his young sons John and Greg for many adventures backpacking in the Sierra’s.

Following his graduation from Placerville High School, and with the help of his sister Cybil Ann , Pat received a scholarship to Santa Clara University achieving a BS degree in Civil Engineering.

He was active in ROTC at Santa Clara and had some very exciting adventures. He went to ROTC Summer Camp (similar to basic training) back East and met two guys that were planning to take a driving trip to California. They invited Pat to go with them. Pat cashed in his return airline ticket and went with them back to California. They stopped at many universities along the way staying in fraternity houses where they attended lots of parties and met lots of girls.

They stayed with the “driver of the car’s” Aunt when they got to Pasadena. She and her husband took them to the beautiful Huntington Hartford Hotel for a fancy dinner, and the boys were quite impressed. She also loaned them her new Cadillac to tour around Southern California – they had quite a time, and Pat loved to tell the story of that summer trip and all their many adventures.

Pat met and married Jean Prather while he was attending Santa Clara. Jean was in school at San Jose State. They met at a dance. When Jean found out Pat was good at chess, she asked if he would teach her how to play. They had several teaching sessions, and she didn’t show any interest or aptitude for chess. Pat finally realized that it wasn’t chess she was interested in! Following their marriage and his graduation from Santa Clara, they took off for his military service.

Pat’s time in the Army was probably the most fun of his life. It was like playing “Star Wars” for him. While shooting rockets over the New Mexico desert, he had the time of his life.

Following his years in the service, and his love for aerospace, he took a job with Douglas Aircraft which later became McDonnell Douglas then Boeing for 13 or 17 (can’t remember) years. Again, his work was exciting and extremely challenging. He worked closely with many of the Douglas test pilots on several programs for the military. He had many, many stories about his experiences.

Douglas moved the family to New Mexico again for a few years where Pat continued in the Guided Missile Program – then back to Woodland Hills again.

With the down-turn of the aerospace industry, Pat decided to get his civil engineering license and take advantage of his college training. He went to work with the City of Seal Beach in the Department of Public Works while he was studying for his State exam. He worked on many projects for Seal Beach and was instrumental in the design and construction of the “Electric Street” – a prominent landmark in Seal Beach.

Pat passed his Civil Engineering/Land Surveyor’s State License the first time he took the exam.

Always the positive one, Pat decided he would like to start his own civil engineering company, and thought he should get experience working for other companies, and “learn the ropes” of the business on their time.

While working for the first civil engineering firm, he served as project manager and personally designed the plans and directed the implementation of the first bike trails in Orange County.

With the second engineering company, one of his projects was the design, grading plan, and site development of the Orange County Fairgrounds property.

He now felt ready to start his own company – Community Engineering Services, Inc., and the business took off rather quickly – receiving contracts with several cities. CES also began providing civil engineering services to development companies. He opened offices in the cities of Pomona and Riverside.

The business grew and grew and Pat gained a reputation as one of the hydrology experts in the area. If there were issues such as a lake, difficult topography, hundred-year storm possibilities on the developer’s land, Pat was likely to get the call.

During this period of time, Pat had two sail boats. Pat’s love of sailing was a highlight of his life. He loved sailing with his family and friends.

Pat suffered a mild heart attack in 1984 and underwent coronary artery by-pass surgery in a catholic hospital in San Bernardino.

At the same time, his new Catalina 36 sailboat arrived in his reserved slip at the Downtown Long Beach Marina just across from the Queen Mary - what a beautiful location. Anxious to see his new boat, he spent the first month following surgery recuperating on the boat staying by himself during the week, and his wife Jean would join him on the weekends. He gained his health back quickly, and by the end of his stay on the boat, he was walking all the way around the harbor to the Queen Mary and then back to the boat – amazing!

Sadness came upon the family with Pat’s wife Jean’s reoccurrence of breast cancer. As her illness progressed, Pat took several months off work to be with and care for Jean. Her passing was a sad and difficult time for the family.

Pat returned to work, and business was increasingly successful, and the number of employees grew. It was a busy time for Pat.

Pat met an old friend he had not seen in many years. Their friendship grew, and Pat and Carolyn Veregge were married in Kauai, Hawaii.

There were many happy years for them sailing, travelling the world, seeing friends and family, yet both Pat and Carolyn had very busy and stressful jobs. They also travelled extensively through the US. Their first two cruises were sailing in the Caribbean, then many tours and cruises in Europe – Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, England, Austria, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia. Russia, Spain, Greece, Sicily, Panama, Aruba, Mexico, Costa Rica, etc. They also took cruises and trips to Alaska, several fall trips and cruises to New York, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, Quebec, Montreal, Nova Scotia, etc. Pat’s last trip was a cruise in the Orient where he saw Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, etc.

Pat and Carolyn feel in love with Kauai and bought a condo at the Cliffs Resort in Princeville which is jointly owned by seven couples. They visited the island once or twice a year with friends and relatives.

Health problems began to occur for both. Carolyn was diagnosed with uterine cancer and a few years later with breast cancer with successful results both times. Pat also began to have health problems.

The economy had a down-turn, and land development and real estate was one of the casualties. Developers walked away without paying their civil engineers, surveyors, architects, etc. It was a very difficult time for most engineering firms. Many closed their doors and walked away. Pat was not the type of person to walk-away and not live up to his responsibilities. Even though he was not receiving compensation for the work his company was providing to the developers, he generously paid all his employees their salaries, and all the debts of the company. Pat only knew one way to conduct business – provide excellent work with honor and honesty. He lived his entire life with these qualities.

Pat was asked by the two brothers of Andreasen Engineering to work for their firm. Their father had recently passed away, and they needed someone with experience to help run their company. They were wonderful to Pat, and he helped their company in many ways.

As Pat’s health problems increased, he cut his hours and eventually retired. Pat and Carolyn still continued to have active lives with family and friends, and continued more travelling. Pat never gave up his positive attitude and outlook on life. For him the glass was always half full! He had a wonderful life. He was loved by many, and he loved many. When he would look back at talk about his life, I don’t think he ever had complaints.

Pat and Carolyn love their families. They are so incredibly lucky to have such outstanding children. In today’s world where so many families are experiencing many heart aches and problems, their children are loving, giving, thoughtful, successful, and hard working. All have college degrees, and many have advanced degrees. Because Pat was such a “great guy”, Carolyn’s boys grew to love Pat as a father and showed it in so many ways.

The grandchildren are such a blessing. Pat and Carolyn loved and received such joy with every one of them.

Pat’s life ended too soon for all of us. We can only trust that God knows best, and he is in a better place. Pat’s best feature was his smile, and I can see it now, all the way from Heaven, where he will be waiting for us.

Carolyn Wallace Thanksgiving, 2012