Harry D. Reilich

Harry Daniel Reilich passed away peacefully, in comfort, and completely pain free at the San Diego Veterans Medical Center October 26, 2010 at 90 years and 10 months. Harry was born December 18, 1919 in Detroit, Michigan; a child of the Depression Harry desired some kind of higher education which would provide him a career after graduating from high school in Los Angeles. After a short stint at LA City College, money became a problem so he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1940. He wanted to be a pilot, but his eyesight kept him from that ambition, so he instead went to Curtis Wright Technical and became an airplane mechanic. He was set to be further trained when his unit was unexpectedly sent to Clark Field in the Philippines in the Fall of 1941. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, the Japanese hit Clark Field and the Philippines On December 8th, 1941. The Forces in the Philippines held out against a long concerted attack and siege until April 1942 when they were ordered to surrender. Thousands of U.S. Army forces were captured and forced to make the infamous Bataan Death March from Corregidor to Manila. While thousands of US and Philippine forces started the march, many did not survive however, Harry was did survive and spent the next 3 1/2 years in various Japanese POW camps, until the war ended in August, 1945. Once he was repatriated, he achieved an AA degree from LA City College, and when he couldn't find work as a draftsman because of his uninsurability, he began attendance at the University of Southern California on the G.I. Bill and got a Bachelors of Engineering, graduating Cum Laude. Harry then embarked on a long and distinguished career with the State of California, moving wherever his employer asked him to go and whatever they asked him to do. He designed many bridges, from simple roadway overcrossings to steadily more complicated design projects. Finally he joined the California Division of Bay Toll Crossings at a time when great infrastructure projects were underway. He became Resident Engineer on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge in the mid 60's and while finishing up this project, his superiors asked him to go to San Diego and take full charge of the construction of the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. When his duties in the SF Bay Area were completed he moved with his wife, and two young children, to San Diego where he accomplished the engineering marvel that is the beautiful San Diego-Coronado Bridge. Once those two projects were accomplished, he moved back to the SF Bay Area and became the Maintenance Engineer on the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge. With most of the massive construction projects completed, he found himself looking for further advancement and was offered the newly created job of Bridge Manager for the new Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District which had just added the bus and ferry transit businesses. The District hired managers for all three divisions and Harry was Manager of the Golden Gate Bridge; maintaining the integrity of the Bridge, overseeing the myriad aspects of the Bridge including carpentry, painting, overseeing the Toll Plaza, the toll collectors, the towing services as well as participating in the rescue of several suicide jumpers. After just a few months as Bridge Manager, the Board of Directors fired the current Chief Engineer of the District and appointed Harry to that position. In this capacity he was charged with every engineering aspect of the District's new ventures. He got the Ferry facilities built, established the Bus Transit facilities, and oversaw all the maintenance of the bridge, including modernizing the Toll Plaza, replacing all the suspender cables and getting the deck and roadways updated. He was most proud of the fact that the Bridge survived the1989 Loma Prieta earthquake with no damage. His proudest claim to fame was that every project he was ever in charge of came in on time, under budget and with no contractors' claims, as well as mentoring all the new and young and up and coming engineers coming into his sphere. Harry was a consummate professional in every sense of the word and is loved and will be sorely missed by all of us who loved him. We will miss the twinkle in his eye and his perseverance in the face of great adversity for the last 60 years of his long and very productive life. With all the physical challenges he faced, he always did it with a smile, and never let what had happened to him keep him from what he wanted, including also becoming a private pilot as he'd started out wanting . Harry is survived by his wife Lorraine, of 32 years, of Windsor, California; by his daughter Eileen Reilich and her husband Peter Lesser of Olympia, Washington and by his son, Ken Reilich and his wife, Simms Reilich of San Diego, California. Harry is fondly remembered by the numerous friends and relatives who will always carry countless happy and smile-inducing memories of the life of a great husband and father and a man of the highest and utmost integrity. Harry's remains will be inurned with military honors in the Fort Rosecrans National Military Cemetery on Point Loma in San Diego, CA near his beloved youngest brother, Yale Robert, who was lost in the Korean War.