SIR Robin Rowe Reynolds


We were sorry to learn of the death of Sir Robin Rowe Reynolds.  Rob joined SIR in 1994 upon being sponsored by Harold Bonderson.  (His obituary is in the paper today 12July09.) He was 88 years old.   

Rob was born and raised in Boise, Idaho and during WWII was with the U.S. Army Air Corps. The Army sent him to the University of Chicago where he completed his undergraduate education in meteorology. He served as a Weather Officer in the Air Corps until 1946. 
He was responsible for much of the planning, financing, constructing and operation of the California State Water Project. He was Deputy Director of the Department of Water Resources retiring in 1978. He had special assignments providing advice and project review to the United Nations for water resources projects in India, Greece, Yugoslavia, Austria, and Kenya. He later joined the World Bank with assignments including a number of large projects in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh,China, Nepal and Indonesia. Our sympathies extend to his family.

 
Big Sir Mickey Wagner
 

REYNOLDS, Robin Rowe 
Memorial Services for Robin Rowe Reynolds, an internationally known civil engineer, will be held Wednesday, July 15 at 2:00 in Trinity Cathedral Church, 2620 Capital Ave. Mr. Reynolds died in Sacramento on July 5, 2009. He was 88.

Robin was born and raised in Boise, Idaho. In 1942 he married Jackie Calhoun of Shoshone, Idaho. Robin attended the University of Washington until joining the U.S. Army Air Corps. The Army sent him to the University of Chicago where he completed his undergraduate education in meteorology. He served as a Weather Officer in the Air Corps until 1946. He then earned a Master's Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. A Life Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, he was also a member of the academic honor societies of Sigma Psi and Chi Epsilon. Mr. Reynolds belonged to Masonic Lodge No. 60 of Boise, Idaho and the York Rite Bodies and Ben Ali Shrine in Sacramento.

Mr. Reynolds began his engineering career in 1948 with the California Department of Water Resources and was responsible for much of the planning, financing, constructing and operation of the State Water Project. He was appointed Deputy Director of the Department in 1975 and retired in 1978. During his later years of state service he had special assignments to provide advice and project review to the United Nations for water resources projects in India, Greece, Yugoslavia, Austria, and Kenya.

After leaving state service Mr. Reynolds joined the World Bank in Washington, DC where he lived until 1986. His assignments with the World Bank included a number of large projects in Pakistan, several in India and in Bangladesh as well as projects in China, Nepal and Indonesia. He continued to work for 10 years on major water resource projects globally as a consulting engineer in private practice. In his final years he lived happily at River's Edge Retirement Community. He was a kind and generous man.

Mr. Reynolds was preceded in death by his wife of 54 years, Jackie Calhoun Reynolds and his brother Hal Reynolds. He is survived by his daughter, Susan Reynolds and her husband Ronald Stein of Seattle; son, Robin Reynolds III and his wife Diane Star of Dutch Flat; granddaughter, Wendy Fenner and her husband Jamie Fenner and great-grandchildren, Calhoun and Lillian Fenner of Portland. He is also survived by nieces, nephews and many longtime friends. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. John's Shelter Program for Women and Children, 2443 Fair Oaks Blvd. #369, Sacramento 95825.

Published in the The Sacramento Bee on 7/12/2009 Print print

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