PIEDMONT — A private memorial was held Saturday for a man who loved geometry and chocolate but not vegetables.
Forty-year Piedmont resident William Blackwell died Nov. 25 at age 92 after living a life rich with professional accomplishments. He passed away peacefully at home on Thanksgiving Day and was “pretty upbeat until the very end,” his widow, Marjorie Blackwell, said this week.
An architect who did undergraduate studies at MIT, then attained a master’s in architecture from UC Berkeley, Blackwell always wanted to make things better, more efficient and perfectly designed. His work was far-reaching, from designing a pavilion for King Hussein of Jordan to planning development of the city of Jubail in Saudi Arabia to engaging in projects, some secret, in Washington, D.C.
“His work was his life,” his wife said. “He was always working on a project, never bored. I was glad he didn’t learn to play golf. He would have considered it a waste of time.”
Instead, in his supposed down time, Blackwell would design and make furniture, create geometric art pieces, work on a book or eat peanut butter-and-pickle sandwiches on white bread. He even wrote a few commentaries published in The Piedmonter and online in the East Bay Times (eastbaytimes.com/author/william-blackwell).
“He loved sports statistical analyses and would make spread sheets of the teams that he would share with friends and neighbors,” his wife said.
If things didn’t seem just so, Blackwell wanted to fix them, in Piedmont and elsewhere.
“It bothered him that the Oakland Avenue bridge had only partial lighting. He kept bugging the city to complete the string of lights there. He believed that converting Blair Park into a sports field was not a good plan at all, that Coaches Field should be expanded, improved and enlarged. He was hoping that Alan Harvey Theater on the Piedmont Unified (School District) campus could be preserved and updated, rather than torn down,” his wife said. “But Bill was always very cordial, even when he didn’t agree with someone.”
His charm, good looks and active mind impressed Marjorie when the two first met in 1979 while both were working at Bechtel Corp. in San Francisco. Marjorie, in the public relations department, was to interview architect/planner William for an article to run in their worldwide company magazine. Bechtel had recognized him for engineering excellence. He asked Marjorie to lunch.
“We had quite a bit in common, both with a strong interest in San Francisco affairs and community,” she said. “Earlier he had worked with the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency on planning and design of the Western Addition to reduce parking requirements and create more housing opportunities where residents could walk to shops and services.”
Blackwell was sent to Saudi Arabia for a few months. When he returned he asked Marjorie to lunch again, and a proposal followed. He was 50, she 40, an neither had ever been married. They tied the knot in August 1980, marrying in a family beach house outside Charleston, South Carolina. They both had small apartments back in the Bay Area. Someone suggested looking in Piedmont, where the newlyweds purchased a two-bedroom cottage with views of San Francisco.
“It was only three blocks from the bus,” Marjorie Blackwell said.
After 10 years, Blackwell designed and added a second-story addition to the home. The couple never had children.
“I was past the fertile time; we were not young kids,” she said.
Her accomplished husband was also a veteran. After receiving a bachelor’s degree from MIT in 1953 he was inducted into the Army. As a sergeant in Korea he helped design signal corps facilities under wartime conditions. After discharge, he returned to his home in Louisville, Kentucky, and while working for an architectural firm there designed a student union building for the University of Louisville and a large church. He moved in 1958 to California, where he earned his master’s degree in architecture under the GI Bill.
Blackwell’s mind was always envisioning changes and improvements — from limiting daylight savings time to limiting political campaigns to three months. He proposed extending high-speed rail from San Jose to an expanded Caltrain station at Fourth and Townsend streets instead of the new Transbay Terminal. He believed this would have saved billions in underground track and terminal construction.
Tributes to Blackwell left online (bayareane.ws/Blackwell) were touching.
“I will always remember Bill as a true gentleman and example of a fine person to have known,” Margaret Chandler wrote.
“Enjoyed the time getting to know Great Uncle Bill, such an accomplished man. So sorry for his passing,” wrote family member Amy Doan.
Blackwell is survived by his wife and eight nieces and nephews in the Midwest and on the East Coast. A tree can be planted in Blackwell’s name, or a contribution made in his name to the math department at Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana, or to the charity of one’s choice.
Linda Davis is a longtime Piedmont correspondent. Contact her with news tips or comments at dlinda249@gmail.com.