William Carl Hart
William “Bill” Carl Hart died early Friday morning, October 22, 2021, at his home in Gilroy, California. He was born on September 14, 1924, in Wilsey, Kansas to Kirk Hart and Grace (Yost) Hart and was an only child.
In 1930, the family moved from town where his father ran the Wilsey Lumber Company to a farm not far away when Bill was six years old. Through high school, he was a Kansas farm kid who milked 12 cows every day before breakfast and learned how to plow behind horses. 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. Ruby and Bill married on June 21, 1944, at Camp Rucker near Dothan, Alabama where Bill was stationed, only a few weeks before he sailed to France. After Bill shipped out to France in December of 1944, Ruby relocated to White City, Kansas to be near Bill’s parents and worked in the Fairmont Creamery in Council Grove until Bill’s safe return from Europe.
Bill resumed his education at Kansas State in Manhattan upon his return to the US and graduated with a BA in Civil Engineering in 1948. He then joined the US Bureau of Reclamation and reported to his first assignment near Grand Lake, Colorado as an inspector on the Granby Dam project where he earned an early reputation as an engineer with high standards and who was uncompromising when building big publicly financed water projects. He took on successively greater responsibilities in his 39 years with the Bureau working on the Kirwin and Webster Dam projects in Stockton, Kansas and as the resident soil cement expert for the Cheney Dam project in Wichita before becoming the Chief Engineer on the Tehama-Colusa Canal project headquartered in Willows, California. His final project brought him to Gilroy, California where he directed from start to finish the San Felipe Water Project that brought water to the Santa Clara Valley from San Luis Reservoir. While in Gilroy, 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 passion for the mission of the Lions Club serving in many leadership positions.
Besides working as partners in the Lions Club, Bill and Ruby were active members of the Gilroy Presbyterian Church. They were also relentless genealogical researchers who spent countless hours in libraries, county recorders’ offices in several midwestern states, and wherever else the trail would lead them. They 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.
Bill 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. Pastor Trevor Van Laar and Pastor Bruce Rowlison will be officiating. 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.