Wally Kammer Obituary

Some memories - Wally attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the 1950s where he learned a lot about Electrical Engineering. Today the only building on the Campus that he would recognize is probably the historic Power House that used to provide steam and electrical power to the School.

From Wally´s stories, it sounds like he was living in a large 1950s house trailer while going to Cal Poly and when the time came, he needed to transport the trailer south. At the time there were no federal trailer size restrictions; they came in all kinds of sizes and shapes.

Wally tells of the problems getting the large and heavy trailer up hills and driving down to the Los Angeles or San Diego area. Once down there, a random police officer measured the length of the trailer; and found it to be too long to meet local laws. Wally could not move his trailer. His solution was to cut off the trailer´s overhang that extended beyond the trailer´s front wall; and that worked.

During the later 1950s Wally worked on the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project of the Southern California Edison Company that used gravity in the Western Sierra to provide Los Angeles with electrical power. Edison, Huntington, and Shaver are three of the Lakes created. Wally made sure that we knew about the history of that project that started in 1910 to provide power for Los Angeles´s electric trolleys using a 240-mile-long power line. Interestingly, water reached Los Angeles from the Owens Valley in 1913 from the east side of the Sierra after flowing downhill all the way to Los Angeles in the 233 Mile aqueduct. Electricity and Water at the same latitude north of Los Angeles, think Bishop, one on each side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, making their way to Los Angeles; both in the early 20th century.

I met Wally when I transferred to The Aerospace Corporation at Vandenberg Air Force Base in 1984. Wally was our sharp Rocket Launch Pad Electrical Lead who spent a lot of his time educating the rest of us. A great Mentor; I miss Wally very much.

Chuck & Vickie Sorensen