Part 2

In the early years of his connection with Sooysmith and Company, Mr. Deans was employed on work in the field, rising from subordinate positions to that of Superintendent in responsible charge of work. During this period he acquired an intimate and practical knowledge of foundation construction, and his subsequent career gave evidence of the value of this training. Being thus well-equipped, Mr. Deans soon became notable as a business engineer. His judgment on all substructure engineering problems was quick and keen, his thorough technical knowledge being supplemented by his penetrating practical sense. His business ability was of a high order, and his efficiency was largely increased by his industry and methodical habits. As a negotiator, he was in the first rank. His quick appreciation of the essentials in business transactions, his fertile resource in the most complicated financial dealings, his patience and persistence in the face of discouragement or delay, and his inflexible determination when once his decisions were reached, were qualities which placed him in the highest rank as a contracting engineer. To those with whom he came in close contact, Mr. Deans will always be remembered as exemplifying the ideal combination of technical training with business efficiency.

He lightened the seriousness of his business transactions with a quick sense of fun, a fondness for a good story, and an infectious good humor. His genuine interest in the work of his associates and his unfeigned delight in their success won him many friendships which lasted throughout his life and which now keep his memory warm in the hearts of those who were fortunate enough to know him intimately. Strong of will, keen and clear-sighted in business transactions, loyal to his friends and to the interests entrusted to him, he was, above all, a genial, honorable, many-sided man, who loved his fellow men.

Mr. Deans leaves a mother, Mrs. Charles W. Deans, of Ph[oe]nixville, Pa., a brother, John Sterling Deans, M. Am. Soc. C. E., Chief Engineer of the Ph[oe]nix Bridge Company, and two sisters, Mrs. R. Barclay Calley, of Seattle, Wash., and Mrs. Elmer E. Keiser, of Tacony, Pa.

In 1893, Mr. Deans married Miss Helen Arnold of West Chester, Pa., who, with two sons, Charles Woodbury, aged 15, and Malcolm Arnold, aged 13, survives him.

Mr. Deans was elected a Junior of the American Society of Civil Engineers, on December 3d, 1890, and an Associate Member on May 6th, 1896.

=WILLIAM MEIER, Assoc. M. Am. Soc. C. E.=[4]

[4] Memoir prepared by William A. Theodorsen and E. James Fucik, Associate Members, Am. Soc. C. E.

DIED FEBRUARY 14TH, 1910.

William Meier, the son of the Reverend Jacob L. and Mary Meier, was born in Muscatine, Iowa, on April 10th, 1878, the family moving to Chicago, Ill., in the same year.

Mr. Meier received his education in the public schools of Chicago and at the University of Illinois, from which he was graduated in 1901, with the degree of B. S. in Civil Engineering.

After his graduation, Mr. Meier was engaged with various firms, principally in bridge and structural work. For a time he was with William M. Hughes, M. Am. Soc. C. E., and in January, 1905, he entered the service of the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company, as Assistant in the Chicago office; and later was appointed Assistant Engineer and Eastern Representative, with headquarters in New York City. At the time of his death, Mr. Meier was employed in the Bridge Department of the Chicago and North Western Railway.

On February 14th, 1910, in diving from a spring-board, in the natatorium of the Young Men's Christian Association, he struck his head against the side or bottom of the tank. When his body was taken from the water, life was extinct, and all efforts at resuscitation were futile.

Mr. Meier took great interest in all that pertained to his profession.

He was elected an Associate Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, on June 1st, 1909. He was also a Member of the Western Society of Engineers.