Harry W. Gobler
1938-2020
Old Sacramento
After Harry retired from NASA, he first decided to start up his own engineering consulting practice but he didn't enjoy selling himself so instead sought to provide assistance to organizations that could benefit from his extensive engineering design, construction, and project management skills. Harry being Harry, most of his letters or conversations started with "I'm an old guy but I have some really great experience ..." And to be honest, despite laws that prohibit age discrimination, he encountered a lot of that. But his take on things was "There's no getting around it - I am old - and they're going to figure that out pretty quickly, so why not be upfront about it?"
Fortunately, one of my co-workers offered a much better option - she told us about friends that were volunteer docents at the California State Railroad Museum (CSRM) and that the museum was constantly looking for more help. This set Harry down the path of a second career - one that put him in the midst of one of his great loves, trains.
I never fully understood his passion for trains - we didn't have many of them in Hawaii - but Harry was one of the few people in the world that didn't mind having to stop and wait for trains to pass, often waving as they went by. He also commuted by train when we worked together in San Francisco; and when we moved to Sacramento for my work, he took trains to and from the Bay Area until he was able to move permanently to Sacramento and join me. Being a docent in a train museum was for him akin to being a kid in a candy store.
After a while, however, it became clear that he missed technical work. So one day, he asked whether they might need some engineering assistance. The museum said "YES" and initially started him on little tasks such as reviewing planned repairs of a doorway. Over time, his assignments increased in complexity to the point where Harry became the museum's technical lead with respect to a proposed Railroad Technology Museum. For several years, Harry was at the museum nearly all the time, attending meetings, doing preliminary engineering design, preparing drawings BY HAND, developing construction cost estimates, and drafting and evaluating contracts, bid documents, and technical specifications. Few people knew that he didn't actually work there since he had his very own cubicle. I noted with amusement that Harry worked more hours than most full-time employees - since he had no benefits, he didn't have or take sick time, holidays, or vacations.
Unfortunately, the Railroad Technology Museum did not materialize but Harry continued to provide in-house engineering support services for other museum and California State Parks projects. Along the way, Harry met and provided assistance to the Center for Sacramento History and the Sacramento History Museum. One of his first projects was to help develop the Sacramento History Museum's Virtual Underground Tours. He enjoyed working on this project and can be seen on his hands and knees helping to assure that the underground walkways were safe and secure.
In addition to donating thousands of hours of pro bono engineering services over more than 14 years, Harry was a major donor to the CSRM.
While still providing technical support to the Railroad Museum and the Sacramento History Museum, Harry was tagged to help the California Automobile Museum with some roofing repairs. He also helped evaluate options for improving space heating and cooling.
Whenever we walked through Old Sacramento, I beamed with pride as Harry was recognized and greeted by many of the people who worked there - not just by people that either volunteered or were employed by the museums, but also by many of the store-owners and vendors that had come to know him. I was also thrilled that he had found fulfillment after NASA, a very hard act to follow, through these multiple and varied pro bono activities.
As the below photos show, he also loved sharing his love of these museums and projects with family and friends.
California State Railroad Museum
The below article appeared in the October 27, 2020 issue of Inside Track, "The Internal Newsletter of CSRM":
In Memoriam
It is with sadness to announce we recently lost one of our most loved and gifted docents. Harry Gobler passed away on October 1. Harry devoted his time and passion to significant CSRM and Capital District projects for the past 14 years. Railtown, Sutter's Fort, the Sacramento History Museum, and the California Automobile Museum all benefited from his expertise. We will miss him and extend our best wishes to his family. As a NASA engineer during his working career, Harry worked primarily on wind tunnel design. Later in his career, he was one of the engineers that designed the base for telescope platforms including the Kepler space telescope and SFOIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy). After he retired, Harry devoted countless hours helping California State Parks and District leadership with project planning, inspections, engineering, and drafting. His engineering skills were equally matched with a commonsense approach to complex issues. Harry developed simple engineering solutions for critical work on historic structures. When we rebuilt the turntable six years ago, Harry helped design lifting beams to jack the turntable. He designed the catenary tower on the south end of the transfer table when the UP mainline moved closer to the Shops. He conducted stress analysis on the Shop’s steel sawhorses in order to know their capacity. Harry designed the temporary repair to the Boiler Shop roof on the south end, and he built the retaining wall behind the museum. Harry received the Museum Director’s Commendation and State Park Poppy Award for his tremendous contributions as a volunteer. Harry Gobler was smart, resourceful, charming, and witty. While he worked on major projects for CSRM, we will miss Harry and his positive outlook on life.
Amtrak Station Host
Another pro bono activity that Harry contributed time to was as an Amtrak Station Host, volunteers who helped riders find their train. The below story was contributed by Nancy Rutz and her husband Brian who met Harry at Amtrak.
I worked for the City of Sacramento in the Revenue Division and on this particular day, everything that could go wrong, went wrong in spades! It was just an awful day and I was looking forward to catching my Amtrak ride home to Auburn and unwinding. As I approached the station platform, this strange man with a clip board in hand and a smile on his face walked up to me to announce that my train had been delayed and would be at least 30 minutes late. It was the straw that broke the camel's back and I proceeded to respond with a tongue lashing of epic proportions. When the train did arrive and I had time to think about my response to that poor man, who was only a volunteer on the Amtrak platform, I was horrified at the treatment I had dished out and made it a priority to seek him out at the next possible opportunity and hope he would accept my sincere apology. He did, and that was how Harry and I met. From then on, when Harry was volunteering on the platform, we made a point of looking for each other and chatting while waiting for the train to arrive. Harry was always full of interesting stories and accounts of what he had seen and done in his lifetime. I looked forward to seeing him at every occasion.
When he learned that my husband, Brian, was a train nut, nothing would do but we had to get together at the Sacramento Train Museum so Harry could show us what the museum had to offer. Many times he was responsible for taking us into areas the general public would not regularly get to see. Brian was like a little kid at Christmas at every opportunity to spend time with Harry. They often met for lunch in Old Sacramento and regaled each other with stories about trains and other "guy" stuff.
We met Laurie at a dinner planned for that very reason and could see instantly how much they meant to each other and how happy they were as a couple.
When Brian was transferred from Canada to the States for his work, I agreed to move on the condition we would return to Canada upon retirement. We knew Harry was not able to travel easily as he had back problems so we kept in touch through emails. His were always full of interesting details about his latest volunteer projects and his frustrations with bureaucrats! Any issues about his health were almost made as an aside, with assurances that he would ultimately be fine.
His most recent letter was unusual, as it dealt almost exclusively with his recent diagnosis and his decision to try a new cancer treatment. The side effects were going to be wicked but his ever present optimism that "things would ultimately work out" was his theme. He asked us to be patient with his 'tardy correspondence' while he fought his fight.
Harry lost his valiant fight. He was our friend and a special person altogether. Our lives were made better for having known him and being included in his circle of people who mattered.
Nancy & Brian Rutz
Center for Sacramento History and
the Sacramento History Museum
On October 14, 2020, the Center for Sacramento History and the Sacramento History Museum reopened with an exhibit at their entrance honoring Harry and his contributions to Old Sacramento:
This Dia de los Muertos, the Sacramento History Museum remembers our friend, Harry.
Harry W. Gobler (1938-2020) was a talented engineer who worked on everything from pedestrian bridges in Riverside to wind tunnels at NASA. After retirement, Harry volunteered with our neighbor, the CA State Railroad Museum serving as both docent and civil engineer. He was especially proud of his work to rehabilitate the roundhouse turntable in 2012-13.
The Railroad Museum couldn’t keep Harry all to themselves! Over the last decade, he graciously worked on several projects for both the Sacramento History Alliance and the California Automobile Museum. If you are one of the thousands of guests who have been on one of our Underground Tours, you’ve seen Harry’s handiwork. The smooth wooden walkways that guide guests around dark spaces are all Harry’s design. He was also instrumental in the installation of our neon signs at the Golden 1 Center. Working with a team, Harry made sure the signs were securely installed for Sacramentans to enjoy for years to come.
The loss of Harry Gobler is felt throughout the Old Sacramento Historic District. We join his family in fondly remembering this truly humble and generous man.
It is hard to find one story to tell about the friendship I was so fortunate to have with Harry. I had the great pleasure to work with Harry as a volunteer on multiple projects in Old Sacramento, at the Sacramento History Museum and the Center for Sacramento History. My introduction to Harry came over 12 years ago when I was charged with creating underground tours in Old Sacramento. This was a joint project with California State Parks where Harry was volunteering at the time. The Board of Directors at the History Museum had brought on a local architectural firm to create a physical plan for access to the underground space under the B.F. Hastings building on 2nd Street in Old Sacramento. The original plans presented by the firm were not usable to create both ADA accessibility and an immersive environment for guests on the tours. I reached out to State Parks staff and they recommended that I talk to Harry. Bringing on Harry created a team that worked seamlessly together. Harry redesigned the boardwalk layouts and lighting.
It would not be an exaggeration to say the tours would not have happened without Harry. He came in almost daily during the construction, and it was during this time that I got to know and love Harry. His calm, enthusiasm and intelligence kept the team going, and from this process I made a friend that I am eternally grateful to have had in my life. Though he had his doubts (which he expressed to me) that anyone would come on the tours, he repeatedly took back those comments after we opened the tours and they were sold out.
Two years after we opened the first tours, we added another location and Harry came to the rescue again, designing the layout of the boardwalks and working with the construction crew and lighting company. I think the second round of construction meant even more to him because he knew he was a part of the team and everyone looked forward to seeing Harry come into work. As a volunteer, he went way beyond what was asked of him. After the project was completed, Harry also became one of the tour's greatest cheerleaders, bringing friends and family on multiple tours. All the guides knew him and made sure he was treated as the VIP he was.
Harry did so much but what I will miss most are all the lunches we had together. He would come in even when we were not working on a project just to give me a little of his time. I was so fortunate to have those times with him, to get to know him better and to get his advice on so many things. He was a true friend, and I think about him daily and miss him. He will always be in my heart.
Marcia Eymann, City Historian
Center for Sacramento History
There’s a truism in the history profession that historians don’t do math or understand technical and engineering problems. Harry accepted these shortcomings in us. He had an ability to explain complicated issues in terms that were easily understood. He was never condescending, and you never felt stupid with Harry.
Harry came to our rescue many times. One project involved the Center lending some neon signs from the collection to be hung in the hallways of the new Golden One Arena. The arena engineers couldn’t understand why these historic signs needed specialty mounts and the arena was reluctant to pay the additional cost for them. It was obvious at the beginning of the first meeting that the arena’s young engineers were not interested in listening to Harry. But slowly as they talked it became obvious that Harry’s knowledge and experience greatly impressed them. They agreed with Harry’s recommendations and the arena agreed to pay for the specialty mounts.
Harry’s subtle smile is missed.
Veronica Kandl, Curator of History
Center of Sacramento History
California Automobile Museum
Harry provided technical support on several projects, including a major roofing repair and upgrades to the museum's heating and cooling systems. I couldn't locate photos of the projects but here are some photos of the exhibits. In particular, Harry was tickled to find "his" Corvette in the museum!
The Automobile Museum had its “Raise the Roof” celebration for the completion of the new roof. Laurie and I were invited, but Laurie had another commitment and with my limited ability to drive at night and my current stomach problems, I also passed. However, when I brought Delta and her team a box of Valentine’s Day candy on Wednesday, and informed her that we would not be attending the Thursday evening event, she handed me a present that she had planned to bestow at the event. It is a steel figurine of an “engineer”, made entirely out of nuts, bolts, etc., reading a set of drawings. I’ve dubbed him the “Iron Man” and given him a place of honor in my office, right next to the “engineer mug” that Debbie gave me at Christmas. I was so touched by Delta’s gesture—it’s more significant than getting paid!!!
excerpt from an email sent by Harry to his niece Wendy