Charles Pankow

Pankow-Charles Pankow, founder and Chairman of the Board of Charles Pankow Builders, died on January 12, 2004. He was born October 6, 1923 in South Bend, Indiana, and for many years made his home in Altadena and San Francisco, California.Mr. Pankow's college education was interrupted by his service in the U.S. Navy during WWII. An ensign in the Navy, he was stationed in Japan until 1946. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Purdue University in 1947, and 36 years later was presented by Purdue with an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering.After 15 years in the design and build industry, "Charlie," as he was known to his family, friends and colleagues, formed his own construction company in 1963. For more than 40 years, Pankow was a pioneer in concrete-forming technology and a champion of the design-build method for faster and more efficient construction of buildings (Pankow once completed a 40-story condominium in seven months). Pankow Builders has constructed more than 1,000 structures between Hawaii and New York, including department stores, office and residential complexes, medical and sports facilities, including the tallest precast concrete building on the west coast. Recent projects in Los Angeles include the Metropolitan Tra nsit Authority Headquarters and East Portal, the Metropolitan Water District Headquarters and Paseo Colorado in Pasadena. During his distinguished career, Pankow invented processes for manufacturing hollow concrete piles using a slipform technique and slipforming vertical air conditioning ducts; he created innovative systems for increasing project automation, including total onsite precasting of structural and architectural elements; and he is perhaps best-known for his leadership in the development of mome nt-frame technology that has advanced the science of earthquake resistant construction. Pankow was a leading member of more than a dozen national associations and academies, including the American Concrete Institute (ACI), American Arbitration Association, Structural Engineers Association of Southern California, and American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), among others. In 1980 Pankow served as president of the American Concrete Institute (whose Southern California Chapter he had helped form in 1957-the first local ACI chapter in the U.S.). He was elected into the National Academy of Engineering in 1997. He was a noted speaker at numerous state and national conventions, and he authored several chapters in the Concrete Construction Handbook by Joseph Waddell.Pankow was especially honored in 1999 to be recognized by the prestigious Engineering News-Record (ENR) as one of the Top Six World Builders during the ENR's 125-year history. His career was also replete with other awards and peer recognition for his ma ny contributions, such as Design-Build Institute of America's Brunelleschi Medal for Lifetime Achievement in 2003; ASCE's 2002 OPAL Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Construction; Purdue University's Distinguished Alumnus Award; ACI's Henry C. Turner Medal Award in 1990; Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Industry Achievement Award in 1993; and many others. Pankow was well-known as a connoisseur of the arts, having established a considerable collection of ancient Egyptian, Chinese and Russian artifacts. He amassed one of the largest private collections of Russian and Greek icons in the United States. Pankow also contributed generously to numerous educational institutions and charitable organizations over the years, most notably Purdue University."Charlie" was tremendously loved and admired by his family and many friends. He will be sorely missed. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Doris Pankow, four children and their spouses-sons Charles III (Chip) and Annie, Richard and Joni, and Stephen and Cathy, and daughter Betsy Rue and Fritz Tegatz-and nine grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother, James Pankow of Indiana, and his sister, Mary Brothers of Colorado.The service will be held Friday, January 16, 2004, at 11:00 AM at Hill Avenue Grace Lutheran Church in Pasadena.Donations may be made to City of Hope, UCSF Medical Center-Kidney Transplant Unit or California Pacific Medical Center Foundation.