Man who helped build some of the iconic structures of Bakersfield dies at 93
| Wednesday, Mar 03 2010 06:53 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Mar 03 2010 06:59 PM
Images
Wilbur Rickett
If it's a Bakersfield structure, Wilbur Baynham Rickett may have had a hand in building it.
Don't recognize the name? You've seen his work. Bakersfield College's Memorial Stadium, Old Church Plaza and the Chester Avenue underpass all bear his mark.
Rickett, who was also an avid hunter and sports fan, died Feb. 25 at the age of 93.
"He was a great man," said John Rickett, one of Wilbur Rickett's six children. "He made Kern County what it is as far as I'm concerned."
Wilbur Rickett was born in Pomona on July 3, 1916. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with an engineering degree.
On July 21, 1940, Wilbur Rickett married Virginia Snodderly in Red Bluff. They moved to Bakersfield two years later and Rickett began working for the Kern County Land Company.
Daughter Cathy Crosby said her father got the job partly because he had lost an eye in a hunting injury and was ineligible for the World War II draft.
"It was safe to hire him because they knew they wouldn't lose him," Crosby said.
But Wilbur Rickett was also talented. A registered civil and geotechnical engineer, he started an engineering firm that expanded over the years and included various partners.
Wilbur Rickett was also a partner in Tumblin Company, which mostly did construction. Some of the projects Wilbur Rickett worked on through Tumblin included Memorial Stadium, the downtown jail and overpasses along Highway 99.
John Rickett said his father was an active man who continued to come to the office on almost a daily basis until Christmas 2009. John Rickett attributed his father's longevity to his industrious nature.
"He was a very disciplined, very fair man," John Rickett said.
He was a man with grand visions of what Bakersfield could become. John Rickett said in the late 1960s his father wanted to created a mall in the downtown area called Empire Square.
The project never took off, but it's an example of Wilbur Rickett's fearlessness in tackling big projects. John Rickett worked with his father on many projects over the years and saw firsthand the dedication he brought to the job.
Don Ward, who began working in engineering with Wilbur Rickett in 1946, described Rickett as a smart, practical engineer. Ward said he and Rickett worked on 500 to 600 subdivisions together.
Wayne Deifel, another of Wilbur Rickett's many business partners over the years, said he and Rickett were friends who went on fishing and backpacking trips together. Wilbur Rickett and his wife, Virginia, who died just last year, were great hosts who held a number of parties at their house, Deifel said.
John Rickett said his father loved big game hunting and just about every year would go on a hunting trip. Once or twice a year for a couple of weeks at a time, he would take the family on vacations to Catalina or on camping trips.
Many of the structures Wilbur Rickett helped construct have been around for decades and most likely will continue to stand years from now. Crosby said her father will be remembered not only through his descendants but through the structures he helped construct.
"He's left a legacy," Crosby said.
Memorial services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Greenlawn Mortuary at 3700 River Blvd., and visitation hours are scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday.
