Kenneth Karl Bechtel (July 4, 1904 – February 4, 1978) was a businessman from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

associated with the '' W. A. Bechtel Company'' and ''Industrial Indemnity'', an insurance company. He also served as

national president of the Boy Scouts of America The national chair is the leading volunteer of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America, a position comparable to the chairman of a board of directors. Prior to 2018, the role of National Chair was titled National President. T ...

from 1956 to 1959.

Early life

Kenneth Karl Bechtel was born on July 4, 1904, in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

Warren A. Bechtel Warren Abraham Bechtel (September 12, 1872 – August 28, 1933) was the founder of the Bechtel Corporation, the 2nd largest construction company in the United States as of 2022. Early life Warren Abraham Bechtel was born on September 12, 1872, ...

. He entered the family business while still in high school.

Career

In 1925, Bechtel, his father and brothers, Warren Jr. and

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

joined to incorporate as ''W.A. Bechtel Company''. Bechtel started as the treasurer, vice president and director. He remained in the role of vice president and director until 1948. In 1931, Bechtel was elected president and director of ''Industrial Indemnity Co.''. In 1943, he was elected as chairman of the advisory committee of Industrial Indemnity Exchange. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of ''Industrial Indemnity Co.'' until 1970. In 1970, he became senior director of ''Industrial Indemnity Co.'' From 1942 to 1945, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Bechtel was the head of ''Marinship Corp.'', a

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

Sausalito, California Sausalito (Spanish language, Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, California, Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, California ...

for the U.S. Maritime Commission. The shipyard built

liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

T2 tanker The T2 tanker, or T2, was a class of oil tanker constructed and produced in large quantities in the United States during World War II. Only the T3 tankers were larger "navy oilers" of the period. Some 533 T2s were built between 1940 and the end of ...

s and Navy oilers. Bechtel served as

from 1956 to 1959. He received both the

Silver Buffalo Award The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting pro ...

and the

Order of the Arrow The Order of the Arrow (OA) is the honor society of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), composed of Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives as elected by their peers. The society was created by E. Urner G ...

Distinguished Service Award. He also served on the board of trustees of

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

and served as director of the

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...

and the World Wide Fund.

Personal life

Since the 1930s, Bechtel lived in

Marin County, California Marin County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and ...

. Later in life, he lived in

Kentfield, California Kentfield (formerly Ross Landing, Tamalpais, and Kent) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, United States, just north of San Francisco. Kentfield is located southwest of downtown San Rafael, at an elevation of 115 fee ...

. Bechtel married Elizabeth Hay in December 1926. They divorced in July 1961. They had two sons, Peter and Jon. Bechtel married Nancy Foote in November 1961. Bechtel died on February 4, 1978, while hiking near

Mount Tamalpais Mount Tamalpais (; ; Miwok languages, Miwok: ''Támal Pájiṣ''), known locally as Mount Tam, is a mountain, peak in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tama ...

in Marin County. He was buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.

References

External links

''Six Companies, Now Single Unit, Ready to Sign Contract for Hoover Dam''
newspaper article; unknown date, includes photo of W.A. Bechtel Sr, S.D. Bechtel, K.K. Bechtel. 1904 births 1978 deaths Businesspeople from Oakland, California People from Marin County, California Bechtel American construction businesspeople American businesspeople in insurance 20th-century American businesspeople Presidents of the Boy Scouts of America {{Scout-bio-stub