Don was born on April 17, 1933 in North Dakota to John Engdahl and Bertha Gierke Engdahl (John and Bertha were born of immigrants). He is survived by his wife, Cyndy; daughter and sons Lee David Engdahl, Eric Max Engdahl, Chris Niels Engdahl, Jane Marissa Engdahl, Garth Russell Engdahl and granddaughters Robin and Haley Stephan Engdahl.
Don’s passion for life was driven by his deep desire to learn about everything. His
curiosity took him in many directions. In the late 1950s he stitched a hot air balloon from war surplus parachutes and was the first balloon pilot licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In the 1960s he designed and built with his own hands a house with a thin-shell concrete roof. In 1970 he became the first man to hike the entire coast of California. This first-hand inspection of the coast and articles in the San Francisco Chronicle fueled the movement that led to the passage of the 1972 Coastal Initiative and to the 1976 California Coastal Act. That landmark legislation embodied the vision of an environmentally sound coast open to public enjoyment. It included provisions for a state-long Coastal Trail.First a newspaperman, principally in Sonoma County, California for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Don had a second career with the State of California Department of Water Resources. There he drew on his physics background, designing and building a salt-gradient solar pond systems with applications of generating heat, electricity, water desalination and thermal energy storage -- the Los Banos Demonstration Desalting Facility.
Don left the workaday world in 1989 for perpetual motion in the mountains of Northern New Mexico: exploration with steam propulsion and ornithopters, sculpture with metal and found objects, and restoration of automobiles (he had an unfathomable passion for small French cars of the early 1960s).
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Thanks for writing this up. Don sounds like quite an original. The photos are good, too.
ReplyDeleteCharles Holdefer
Eric -- what an incredibly versatile man your father was!
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful tribute to an amazing man. I love seeing the pictures through the years.
ReplyDeleteI am pleased to say I once got a ride in the steam car. Exciting to say the least. I always admired Don for the way he continued to go to his shop to work on his projects long after his many health problems would have slowed a lesser man down. The last time I saw Don I was working on some small metal sculptures myself and I tried to talk him out of some of his amazing copper supply. But he was having nothing of my plan, saying instead he still planned to use it all.
Bye Don. Please let us know how it is on the other side.
P.S. I had to go back and edit my comment to be sure Don would have approved of my grammar.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful site, Eric. When I saw the picture in the upper right-hand corner, my first thought was "You never told me you were Hemingway's son!" The other pictures and your narration reveal many sides of what man have been a fascinating and complicated man. I am sorry I never met him, but I see parts of him in you. My condolences for your loss, but a hearty "Huzzah!" for a life well lived.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like he lived a full life, much more than most of us can even hope to imagine.
ReplyDeleteDon was my dad's cousin. I first met him when I was a boy, around the time of his coast walk (which I followed avidly in each Sunday's SF Chronicle).
ReplyDeleteI still remember a memorable Thanksgiving dinner at the Chalk Hill Road house with Don, Susie and the kids back in the late '60s/early '70s. Thanks for the photos, and indeed for the website.
Eric! This is a fantastic posting about your father. It is a fine tribute. Ahhh, how much Garth resembles Don. I miss your brother very much. He and I were close during our time at Humboldt State. In my search for Garth on FB, ha ha, I found this wonderful tribute to your father. All of his children surely engender those magical attributes Don possessed, as I came to know, staying over those many nights in the hyperbolic paraboloid house on Chalk Hill. Chris and I would try to ride that steep driveway on our heavy old steel Schwinns, to match your feat... only, you were on a single speed, and a high gear at that. It must have been only shortly after Don did his coast walk that Chris and I made our mark in his honor and backpacked the coast from Gualala to Mendocino, I might have been only 13 and Chris 14, so that would be '72. That was a very cool expedition. We carried, and ate, expired 'C' or 'K' rations, in cans!, that were from my Uncle Rick who was in the National Guard. We had originally planned to ride our heavy old bikes equipped with that backpack rack that Don had invented from Windsor to the Ruth Rodeo, in Southern Trinity, but my bike was stolen in Coddingtown prior to departure. So, my dad dropped us off in Gualala, and retrieved us from Mendocino 10 days out, in his convertible MGB...Wow, that our parents would allow 2 pubescent teens to undertake a solo adventure along the rugged California coast is a mystery to me! Though, having us at home all summer may have sealed the deal from their perspective.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eric, this write up is a treasure. I did not know Don from personal experience, only through Chris and Garth's tales. If you hear from Russell, relay my greetings, and tell him to look me up online, as it is done these days.
Kristian Hartley
I met Don at DWR in 1980 when I started as a student intern. He helped me immeasurably with a very unusual project. I was amazed and honored to meet the Coast Walker, who I had followed each week in the Chronicle. He was an amazing person and it was a privilege to spend time with him. Thank you for this blog tribute!
ReplyDeleteFrank F.
Eric, your dad flew me out to Los Banos in his light plane in 1986 to help on the solar project there. He was one a most enlightening and delightful fellow. I am sorry to just learn of his passing, but ever grateful for his life. A life well lived!
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