William "Bill" Hart
Sept. 14, 1924 - Oct. 22, 2021
Resident of Gilroy
William "Bill" Carl Hart died early Friday morning, October 22, 2021, at his home in Gilroy, California. He was the resident Chief Engineer with the US Bureau of Reclamation that constructed the San Felipe Project that built a large diameter tunnel boring from both directions to bring water from the San Luis Reservoir to the Santa Clara Valley. He opened the project office in Gilroy in 1975 and had oversight of all aspects of the project until its completion in 1987. It was the last and most ambitious project of his 39 years with the Bureau.
He was born in Wilsey, Kansas to Kirk Hart and Grace (Yost) Hart and was an only child. As a Kansas farm kid, he milked 12 cows every day before breakfast, learned how to plow behind horses and developed a love for the Kansas Flint Hills region. In April 1943, halfway through his second year at Kansas State College in Manhattan, Kansas he enlisted in the US Army. It was in the Army Specialized Training Program at the University of Missouri, Columbia, where he met and became engaged to Ruby Newbery whom he married only six months before he sailed to France.
Upon Bill's safe return from Europe, he resumed his education at Kansas State in Manhattan on the GI Bill graduating with a BA in Civil Engineering in 1948. He then joined the US Bureau of Reclamation and reported to his first assignment on Granby Dam in Colorado where he earned an early reputation as an engineer with high standards and who was uncompromising when building big publicly financed water projects. During the final years of his career, he traveled to India and the Soviet Union through the auspices of the World Bank as a collaborative expert on large water projects.
He retired in 1987 and remained in Gilroy where he continued to pursue his lifelong interest and passions for genealogy and the Lions Club serving in many leadership positions.
Bill and Ruby never missed an annual WWII US Army 66th Division reunion. Bill was a Fellow and Life Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Life Member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, Member US Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, Sons of the American Revolution, American Legion, Sons in Retirement.
He is survived by his children, sons Jeffrey (Beverly) Hart of Valley Springs, CA; David (Joycelyn) Hart of Davis, CA; and daughter Patricia Karr of Carpinteria; numerous grandchildren, nieces and nephews and long-time friends. He was preceded in death by Ruby, his wife of 74 years.
A funeral service will be held at 2:00PM on Sunday, December 12, 2021, at Gilroy Presbyterian Church, 6000 Miller Avenue, Gilroy, CA 95020. Burial will be at the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery near Santa Nella on Monday, December 13. In lieu of flowers, any donations made in Bill's honor can be made to Gilroy Presbyterian Church at the address above; to the Gilroy Lions Club, PO Box 2131, Gilroy, CA 95021 or, to the donor's charity of choice.

View the online memorial for William "Bill" Hart