Genoa Theatre

LouRugani on June 9, 2016 at 2:29 pm

Architect Derald Milton West – Born June 24, 1918, Died October 18, 2010

Derald Milton West, American Institute of Architects, passed away at 92 in Blowing Rock, NC on October 18, 2010 after living a remarkable life.

He was born June 24, 1918 to the late Frank Milton and Edith Maude Garland West in Chicago, Illinois.

He was a gifted athlete in baseball, football, and hockey in his youth at Lindblom High School in Chicago. From there he was the first member of his family to graduate from college, with honors, from the University of Minnesota in architecture. While a student in 1942, he met and married his wife of 62 years, June Elizabeth Anderson. He was studying for his masters at the Illinois Institute of Technology under Mies van der Rohe when war broke out.

Millions of men were joining the war effort, and Derald was no exception. But his path was quite interesting; he was selected as one of a dozen young scientists and engineers to enter an elite program sponsored by the War Department. He was sent to Wright-Patterson for research and training into the capabilities of munitions, fuses, and other secret technologies. From there, he did further research at Princeton University, during which time he was privileged to meet Albert Einstein on numerous occasions.

Eventually he was sent to England to advise the Ninth Air Force on strategic bombing from a highly technical perspective. He often briefed the Supreme Allied Commanders as the invasion of Fortress Europe approached, and this at the age of 25. He landed on the Normandy beaches days after the invasion to assess the results of aerial bombardment. One of his duties was to advise the Ninth Air Force — after numerous failed missions — to carpet-bomb the runways of a notorious German fighter base in Holland rather than saturate the entire base with smaller munitions. He’d noted earler that the base was ringed with water-pump windmills since it was below sea level and his concept was to destroy the drainage system. The mission was staged and the base was never again operational throughout the war. That success, and his research on how to bomb the Seine bridges prior to D-Day – which precluded Field Marshal Erwin Rommel from reinforcing German resistance to the D-Day landings – earned him a Bronze Star from President Harry S Truman, a rare honor for a civilian.

But his true self-identity was always as an architect. After the war he built a successful practice in Genoa City, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and Blowing Rock, NC which lasted over sixty years – designing the GENOA Theatre in his new hometown and other buildings, particularly schools, throughout America and into South America. Active in the American Institute of Architects (AIA), he served many roles, including as the National Chairman of the Education Committee and as a judge of the NCAARB. He was a mentor and inspiration to three generations of young architects.

The concept of giving back to his community was important to Derald; he was the co-founder of the Genoa City Improvement Association, a member of the Lake Geneva Planning Commission, the Board of the First United Methodist Church of Lake Geneva, the Walworth County Park and Planning Commission, and the co-founder of the Chapel-on-the-Hill in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. In Blowing Rock he was a member of the Planning Board, a founding member and Chair of the Architectural Review Board, a member of the Historical Society, a vestry member of St. Mary of the Hills Episcopal Church, and a past-President and twice Rotarian of the Year of the Rotary Club of Blowing Rock and a multiple Paul Harris Fellow.

He was survived by his children Deralyn, James, Robert (Sally), and Marilee West, and by six grandchildren.

He was preceeded in death by his wife June, in 2004. A memorial for Mr. Derald M. West was conducted on Friday, November 12, 2010 at 11:00 o'clock at St. Mary of the Hills Episcopal Church in Blowing Rock officiated by Father Rick Lawler. Contributions in Derald’s memory can be given to St. Mary of the Hills Episcopal Church, the Blowing Rock Rotary Foundation or an organization of the donor’s choice. www.hamptonfuneralservice.com.