Richard C. Harlan

Richard C. Harlan November 21, 1929 - March 7, 2008 An internationally regarded dam engineer, Richard Harlan was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Inglewood where his parents ran a trailer park. At Stanford University, he studied civil engineering on a Navy R.O.T.C. scholarship. He served as the yearbook photographer and was a member of the water polo team. Photography and swimming remained among his many continuing interests. After graduation he was engineering officer during the Korean Conflict on a destroyer, the USS Uhlmann, and formed lifelong friendships with many fellow crew members. Following his discharge from the Navy, Dick was employed by the engineering firm Dames & Moore and then by Bechtel in their Civil-Dams Department where he served as the design engineer on several major hydroelectric projects. Dick left Bechtel, but returned when offered a key position on the engineering team for the vast Churchill Falls hydro project in Newfoundland and Labrador. Ever ready for a challenge, Dick abandoned his settled life in Silicon Valley and relocated with his first wife Jeanne and their two sons to the remote settlement of Churchill Falls. Following his return from Canada, Dick started his own consulting business in San Francisco, which provided high quality geotechnical engineering services. It was during this period that he met his second wife Florence. In the '90s, Dick embarked on the final phase of his career as an independent consultant to many hydroelectric power agencies in the western United States and Alaska. He was highly respected by clients and colleagues alike for his insightful engineering and wise counsel. Both interwoven and extending beyond his professional career was Dick's wholehearted enjoyment of life. This was manifest in his worldwide network of friends, his extensive travels, and in the construction of a home on the Sonoma Coast, much of it with his own hands. Dick was a true Californian and a renaissance man. He hiked the Sierras, sailed the Bay, and skied the snow. He was an aficionado of good music and fine wines. For all who knew him, he set standards both professionally and personally for integrity, honesty, friendship, and humanity, and for living life to the fullest until the end. He never lost his curiosity or enthusiasm for the new and the unknown. Dick is survived by his wife Florence; his sons Russ and Rick; and his grandchildren Samantha and Randy. He will be missed by all who knew him. A Celebration of his life will be held on Sunday, April 13th at 2:00 p.m. at Telegraph Landing, 150 Lombard St., SF.