Today at 2:35 PM...

[SoCalDave]

Condolences to you and the family. Sounds like he lived a good life.

 

[Havasu blue label]

Sorry for loss rip

 

[92562]

So sorry for your loss and thanks for the story. He seems like an amazing man. You were blessed to have him for 67 years and don't fool yourself. You see his greatest legacy every time you look in the mirror.

Rest in peace.

 

[rush1]

God speed to your father , sorry for your loss , as an old man myself and growing up with legends of industry such as your dad, I fear for the future of this country knowing we are loosing the "Men" that have built the country that it is today

 

[Joe mama]

Sorry for your loss rrrr, you can tell he taught you life the right way. He sounds like a great productive man..

 

[rivermobster]

Wow...

What a great life! He was obviously instrumental in building this great country. It takes great men to do such things.

Seems like he also raised a great son.

Great tribute.

 

[OCMerrill]

I just read of your loss. Your father was an amazing man. Sandia - not sure how many here understand just how important they were/are. Your dad’s accomplishments were amazing. My sincere condolences to you and your family.

Sandia National Laboratories and the only reason I knew of it was my son who is a Nuclear Physics Major. Its a big deal in his world.

 

[rrrr]

I just read of your loss. Your father was an amazing man. Sandia - not sure how many here understand just how important they were/are. Your dad’s accomplishments were amazing. My sincere condolences to you and your family.

Thanks for the compliments. My Dad had a Q clearance, which is close to the top of secret clearances. He had access to the most critical areas of LANL, SNL, and White Sands Missile Range. Access for the employees for some of the work he did was through temporarily built bare drywall corridors, so they wouldn't see the lab work going on.

 

[steamin rice]

Sorry for your loss. Godspeed

 

[rrrr]

I came across a couple more photos of the Los Alamos contaminated nuclear waste facility. This silo accepted high velocity exhaust air from treatment labs, and the particulates fell out and collected in the bottom. The air was then routed over to the incinerator on the left, and mixed with a natural gas fueled high temperature blast. I don't know much else about its operation.

I also wanted @playdeep to see the first photo. That's Roy Ford, my Dad's superintendent for over twenty years, and Bobby Ford's dad. Mike, Roy and his next door neighbor Joe Johansen raced stockers at Speedway Park roughly between 1957 and 1965. I was wondering if you could find some photos of them in action.

Thanks again to all that offered condolences. I really appreciate the thoughts and comments.

 

[Ducksquasher]

So sorry...RIP God Bless.

 

[Hardly Satisfied]

So sorry for your loss

 

[pwerwagn]

Ron, so sorry for your loss. Sounds like your dad was a great man and taught you tons. I lost my dad (much younger than yours) about 5 years ago, and stories like these are what keep the good memories alive. I am fortunate to have pretty close relationships with most of my dads childhood/adult friends and one of my favorite times is when they tell me stories, details that would otherwise be forgotten forever. I always enjoy hearing your stories, because something in almost every story you tell has a persons name Ive heard of from my dad or his friends, or some detail that is close to home for me.

I am a 4th generation employee of Sandia Labs. Someone from my family has worked here pretty much since the day it was opened. It was, and still is one of the coolest places to work anywhere. I cant say anything about what I do, but it is all made possible by hardworking men like our fathers, and men like you.

Godspeed to your dad, and i wish you well on your path to healing.
@rrrr

 

[CLdrinker]

As a third generation tin knocker (bailed after 10yrs) I can appreciate your dad’s accomplishments. I was along side my dad many days in the shop. He would do the layout and I would cut, bend and assemble.

An 1/8th of an inch will fuck shit up royally so getting it right and a large scale like your father did is a big accomplishment.

 

[Dan Lorenze]

...My Dad passed away. My sister and I were holding him as he took his last breath.

Dad's health has been deteriorating rapidly over the last few months. He was down to 140 lbs, from a lifetime of 220 lbs. His memory and cognitive functions left him, and while he remembered many things in his past, the present day facilities were gone.

This man, through his genius and hard work, built a business that at one time employed over 125 sheet metal journeymen, and built projects all over the US, from a 25 story office building in Portland, OR, to huge research facilities at The Ohio State University and the Batelle Institute in Columbus, OH. There was also a 1.2 million SF Kodak film processing facility in Greeley, CO.

The industrial side of the business was impressive as well. The US government work included missile silos, laboratories at Los Alamos, and facilities at Sandia Base in Albuquerque. Beginning in 1945, Sandia Base was the sole source for the construction of atomic and thermonuclear bomb delivery systems. They constructed everything but the warheads. Dad was responsible for the design and construction of the huge ductwork at Four Corners Navajo Generation Facility, a multiple gigawatt coal fired power plant.

But his greatest legacy was what I learned from him. I began working in the shop when I was eleven years old. Over the next few decades, together we built projects that were incredibly complex and demanding. I learned and mastered a universe of skills that spanned many disciplines. This allowed me to continue learning every day, and culminated in my ownership of a technology centered general contracting firm. The data centers I built, the projects for the Navy, large financial firms, hospitals, and well known nationwide concerns, had my Dad's imprint on every one of them. I would not have succeeded to the extent I did without his incredible genius and work ethic.

I'm sharing this with my RDP family because I want you all to know of the support and guidance I have received from my Dad over the 67 years of my life. I could not have done it without him.

This is a load of ductwork headed to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1962. It was for a new contaminated nuclear waste processing facility. That's my Dad's foreman Bill Casey, he had just parked the truck next to an entrance of the facility, and was preparing to unload it. When I turned fifteen, I was driving this rig to jobsites all over New Mexico, an example of my Dad's teaching and confidence in my abilities. Later years had large 48' "birdcage" trailers my Dad engineered and had built in the shop to haul ductwork and equipment across the country. They were pulled by International CO4070 tractors.

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I’m so very sorry for your loss

 

[C-2]

What an awesome tribute and memorial for your pops. As always, job well done. Thanks for sharing, and Godspeed to your pops.

 

[OLDRAAT]

Sounds like he had a full, proprous life
and ensured you had the skills to keep the business going to support the customers after he retired.
Prayers to all. Sorry I didn't see your post earlier.
Tom