Clay Patrick Bedford

Clay Patrick Bedford, Jr., 1929 - 2016   Passed away peacefully on August 26, 2016 in Portsmouth, NH, a victim of Lewy-Body Dementia.   Born in 1929 in Glen Cove, Long Island, NY, Pat was the eldest son of Clay Patrick Bedford and Catherine Ann Bermingham. Due to the nature of his father's job in the construction industry, Pat moved frequently and was witness to some of the greatest engineering feats of the first half of the twentieth century, including Hoover dam. As a teenager, he attended Berkeley (CA) high school where he made lifelong friends through his participation in the Boy Scout Troop xx. He graduated from the New Mexico Military Institute, in Roswell New Mexico where he earned what was then the school's only perfect score in the equitation discipline of Dressage. Pat entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with the class of 1950, receiving a degree in Civil Engineering. While at RPI he was a member of the ATO fraternity and was on the ski team.   After college, Pat married Carolyn Stevenson, from Barrington, NH; the two met in Troy, N.Y. while students. Pat joined the Navy in 1951, entering Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI, and subsequently completing Civil Engineer Corps training school at Port Hueneme CA. He was assigned to Naval Air Station, Norfolk, VA, eventually serving as Base Transportation Officer. He completed his military obligation in Norfolk in 1954. After working briefly in airframe design for Chase Aircraft, he followed his father into a career in construction management for Kaiser Engineers. Major projects he oversaw included iron ore mines in California and Labrador, a Titan I missile base in Mountain Home ID; Hell Hole Dam in the High Sierras; a steel mill in Ontario and part of the subway system in Montreal Canada. He then retired as vice-president for operations at Kaiser before joining Fluor Constructors International in 1978 as the company president. Until 1991 he oversaw far-flung projects in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa, among other locations. He retired from Fluor in 1991 and then served as a consultant to Northrop. Shortly thereafter they moved east to Carolyn's family farm to manage the family interests.   Pat served the public as a member of the Barrington School Board and the Town Planning Board. His counsel on the construction of the Barrington Public Safety Building and the Barrington Middle School was much appreciated.   He loved skiing, and while in college he made the acquaintance of Sepp Ruschp, one of the great legends of the sport. He introduced his family to skiing in the early 1960's. Many family vacations were spent at ski areas in the Lake Tahoe area and northern Vermont. He loved the sport of bird hunting, but more so his hunting dogs, from Mariah the English pointer, to Black Jack, and finally Pirate and Phoebe all beloved Labradors. He also enjoyed his friends at the Engineer's Club in Montreal, the Bohemian Club in San Francisco and Major Waldron's Sporting Club in Barrington.   He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Carolyn Stevenson Bedford of Barrington, New Hampshire; his brother Peter Benjamin Bedford of Napa, CA; his three surviving children; Thomas Alan Bedford of Barrington, NH, Dr. Steven McLeod Bedford of New Hartford, CT, and Hilary Bedford Parkhurst of Greenwich, CT; grandchildren Courtney, Morgan, Emma, Catherine, Clay, William, Nathaniel, Charles (Chip) and Henry, and and one great grandchild, Charlie.   He will be remembered for his tough nature, forcefulness, and frank speaking that was often tempered with loving intent. His passion for skiing, skeet and bird shooting, and his unswerving love of dogs are well known among family and close friends. A private funeral mass will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Ducks Unlimited, the Brain Support Network, and the Labrador Retriever Club, Inc. Rescue Fund, 295 Woods Rd., Elkton, MD 21921.A memorial service honoring the life of Clay P Bedford, Jr., will be held on Saturday, October 1, 2016 from 3 to 5 pm at the Governor's Inn, 78 Wakefield St, Rochester, NH.