O'Neil

On February 3, 2021, the National Academy of Construction lost one of its treasured members -Robert S. O’Neil. Bob was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 6, 1935, and moved to the Washington area with his family in 1966. He was a longtime resident of Potomac, Maryland. Bob graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1957 and attended the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago in 1962. He earned his M.S.C.E. from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. in 1970.

Bob served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force and then spent his entire career after the military working in consulting engineering with De Leuw, Cather & Company, later part of The Parsons Corporation. He started in 1960 as a Project Manager, and rose through the ranks to Chief Engineer, then Vice President, and later Senior Vice President. From 1991 to the time of his retirement in 2001, Bob served as President and CEO of De Leuw, Cather & Company; President and Chairman of De Leuw, Cather, International Limited; and Group President & CEO of the Transportation Group of the Parsons Corporation.

He traveled the world working on the design and construction of mass transportation projects, tunnels, and highways over the course of his career. He served for a number of years as Chief Engineer during the construction of the Washington, D.C. Metrorail System. Bob also worked on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project in the Washington, D.C. area, the Los Angeles Rapid Transit system, commuter rail systems in Taiwan, highway systems in Dubai, the Franconia Notch Highway, the Shanghai Metro Rail System, and the Northeast Corridor railway network. He worked on many other notable projects in The United States and in overseas locations.

Bob received many engineering awards during his 40-year career and served as Director of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association and Director of the International Road Federation. He was also the Officer-in-Charge of the historic $16 billion English Channel Tunnel on which Parsons served as the engineering advisor. In Bob’s honor, Parsons endowed a scholarship at the University of Notre Dame, his alma mater. Bob was inducted into the National Academy of Construction (NAC) in 2009. He also received an Honor Award from the College of Engineering at Notre Dame, the James Laurie prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Leif Sverdrup Civil Engineering Management Award in 2002. He was awarded the President’s Medal from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2007.

Professional association memberships also included The Moles and The Beavers. Bob participated in several U.S. trade missions abroad to promote American know-how and capabilities in the transportation sector. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering based upon his leadership in the establishment and growth of environmentally responsible transportation throughout the world.

Bob loved sports and was an avid golfer and particularly enjoyed playing at the Congressional Country Club. He passed on his enthusiasm for travel and sports, especially Notre Dame football, to his children. Bob loved to dote on his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He encouraged his children and grandchildren to embrace life fully and to appreciate other cultures and peoples. He always had a kind word for family and friends and enjoyed his many friendships.

Bob is survived by his devoted wife of 62 years, Barbara (Gorham), who Bob met in first grade and who lived only a few blocks away from his family home in Chicago. Barb and Bob became pen pals when Bob was studying in college, and they were married shortly after his graduation. They have four children, eleven loving grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Bob was a loving father, husband, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle, and friend to all. Bob’s family is deeply saddened to have lost him, but they also feel very blessed to have had so many great years with him.

- Jim Doebler, 2021