By Janet McGregor
Contributing Writer
jmac_snippets@hotmail.com

Talking with Bill Alsmeyer is much more interesting than reading any book or watching a television program.

After a short conversation, it becomes evident that it would be easy to pull up an easy chair and talk for days without becoming bored, or touching on the same subject twice. The conversation ranges from the state of the world to unemployment, to the building and history of the Panama Canal and many other topics.

Somewhere in the midst of the engaging discussions, a snapshot of Alsmeyer's interesting life sneaks in.

Alsmeyer was born, and grew up, in St. Louis, Mo. When he graduated from high school in 1932, the country was in the midst of the Depression, something Alsmeyer remembers vividly. Although his father was not out of work, the family lived on a reduced paycheck and there were “no frills.”

He recounts that around one-third of the men at that time were out of work. Considering the fact that most women did not work, the picture truly was “very bleak.”

As a result of the Depression and the economy, it took Alsmeyer two years after graduation to land his first job operating an elevator operator. Although he would have preferred to go to college, due to the Depression, “there was no way I could go.”

Six weeks after starting his job, he received an offer for a job in his field of choice, structural engineering. Alsmeyer had worked in one of his father's friends' office during his first year in high school - that tie resulted in the job offer which allowed him to leave operating elevators behind permanently.

Alsmeyer stayed with that job for three years. At night, he attended night school at Washington University in St. Louis. According to Alsmeyer, “My father used to preach, `Take advantage of every education opportunity you have — that will determine what you life is going to be like.'”

Alsmeyer took that preaching to heart and throughout his life managed to go back and attain his degree in civil engineering, as well as a Masters Degree and a PhD in Structural Engineering.

In 1937 when he started his college classes at the Missouri School of Mines, he said, “I thought I would be the old man in the class.” However, he was not alone and there were many who had passed up college earlier as a result of the tough economic times.

After graduation, he returned to his previous job in St. Louis. Not long after he returned to work, he was contacted by the School of Mines and asked to step in as a short-term replacement for a professor who had been called into the Army. With the advent of Pearl Harbor, the temporary assignment stretched into three years. “Then I ran out of students due to the war and the draft,” he noted.

He took a position in Akron, Ohio with Goodyear Aircraft, working on airplanes for the war. Alsmeyer was responsible for the redesign of the Corsair wing and the larger engine.

After Goodyear, Alsmeyer took a position with Ohio State University, once again using his teaching skills. While there he received his master's degree and Ph.D. Toward the end of his tenth year, he received a call from one of his students who told him, “I think I've convinced my boss to hire you.”

Although Alsmeyer loved teaching, and had not been looking for another job, he talked to the student's boss and was ultimately offered a job as an in-house consultant, making “quite a bit more money” than he had been making as a teacher.

Alsmeyer worked as a consultant with the firm for three or four years before moving into the vice president's slot. With offices in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Omaha, travel became a part of his everyday life.

When the company expanded into foreign markets, he began traveling throughout the world.

Alsmeyer has played golf in cities and countries as exotic as Indonesia, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Singapore and Peachtree City. Golf is one of the main reasons the 86-year-old chose Peachtree City as his home 9 years ago.

In 1965 he moved to San Francisco. Regarding his 35 years with the company, Alsmeyer says, “Anything new was tossed at me, so I was always doing something new. I thoroughly enjoyed my job and had a lot of fun.”

Alsmeyer recounted one trip where he traveled to New Delhi to review some bids. When he arrived, he was informed the bids had arrived and there was nothing for him to do, so, “I was told I could go home.” As there were no airplanes going out that day, Alsmeyer was “forced” to stay overnight and take in a golf game. He says, “I traveled half way around the world to play golf.”

Alsmeyer's daughter and family had moved to Peachtree City in 1989. He had visited them a number of times during his travels and liked the area, in particular the golf courses. When he retired in 1991, he decided to relocate to the area.

Some people retire when they retire. Others don't. Alsmeyer is one who found he couldn't stay still. Not long after he moved to Peachtree City, his daughter noticed an advertisement in a local newspaper for a structural engineer. Alsmeyer called, talked with Bill Nigro who owns Redicheck, the two came to an agreement and Alsmeyer has been working “part time” with Nigro for close to eight years.

Part time for Alsmeyer has a different definition than for most. He works full days, but only when there is a project in-house, which could mean weeks of eight-hour-plus days.

In his sparse spare time, Alsmeyer continues to play golf, reads avidly and enjoys his friends and family. For the past three years he has celebrated his birthday in North Carolina with a group of friends from Fayette County and all over the country.

The annual golf outing is a fun-filled four or five days of golfing, poker and, according to friend Greg Dunn, “running circles around the rest of us.” Alsmeyer is a minimum of 25 years older than the rest of the crew, yet he is the one who is most likely to want to go another nine holes when the rest are talking about a nap. He says, “I can't hit a ball very far, but I usually stay in the fairway.”

Regarding his ability to keep the ball in the fairway, friend and Peachtree City resident Mike Riley asked him on the trip, “Don't you get bored? You don't get to go in the yards, into the gardens or other areas like I do.”

Alsmeyer has two children, Athene and William. Athene is the third holder of her name. Both her mother and grandmother were named Athene. William, while not a junior, is named after his father. Athene, a teacher at Starr's Mill High School, has two children, Jonas and Amanda. Son William lives “way out in the boonies of Nebraska,” says Alsmeyer. William has two children.

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