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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