by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
After 38 years of public service, Richard Bonner of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Jacksonville District is retiring, but he is planning to serve the public in other ways.
Bonner, who has been the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deputy district engineer in Jacksonville since 1989, will be working in his office in the Prudential Building for the last time on Friday. His last official day isn’t until Aug. 3, because of leave and vacation time that he had.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” he said. “It has been a big part of my life. It’s going to be strange, but I still have several jobs to finish before Friday.”
Bonner has no plans of “working,” but is planning on spending most of his time with his family and volunteering his time to a few organizations.
Volunteering isn’t anything new for Bonner, even though he was paid for his service with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he still volunteered a lot of his time to help with the Corps hurricane relief efforts as well as other projects.
“It is about the service and the work we do for the people and the nation,” said Bonner. “It is very rewarding work. Disaster recovery is hard work, but it is rewarding.”
Bonner remembers the months after Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida.
“When Hurricane Andrew hit, I was gone for three months,” he said.
While he was in south Florida helping with relief efforts, his wife called him when their air conditioner broke and asked him to speak to the repair man.
“My wife is very supportive. She has taken care of a lot of things when I wasn’t able to be there,” he said. “I want to spend time with my wife, my children and grandchildren.
“I’ve been working since I was 14 — it is time to take a break.”
Bonner always knew he wanted to be an engineer.
“I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to do engineering work,” he said. “There were a lot of jobs at the time (in engineering).”
Bonner began working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1969. He began at the Mobile, Alabama District and left that district in 1974 to work in the planning division of the Corps’ South Atlantic Division in Atlanta. He stayed in Atlanta for 10 years before coming to Jacksonville. He has been at his current position since 1989.
As the deputy district engineer, he oversaw the preparation of the annual district budget and worked directly with the Corps’ customers which include the City of Jacksonville, The Port Authority, the beaches and others. Bonner also supervised a team of project managers who set the schedules and managed the planning, design and construction of district projects.
The Jacksonville District covers all of Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and parts of southeast Georgia. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District focus areas include: providing navigable harbors and channels, flood protection, restoring ecosystems, protecting wetlands, stabilizing beaches, provide recreational opportunities, responding to emergency situations and providing services to local, state, federal and international agencies.
A few well-known projects have been completed since Bonner has been the deputy district engineer. One that he is especially proud of was the Cerrillos Dam and Reservoir that was built north of Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1991.
“This was a very important project that was completed while I was here,” he said. “The dam is helping the country with their water supply and protects them from flooding.
“I take great pride in that one.”
Other projects include Miami Beach Restoration and the Everglades Restoration Plan. But the projects weren’t the only areas that Bonner is proud of, because they also do a lot of work with other federal agencies including the military and FEMA to provide emergency response efforts after disasters hit.
“That (emergency response) is a big part of our mission,” said Bonner. “We help remove debris, repair schools and homes, provide people with water, ice and generators.”
Now that his service is coming to an end with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bonner is still going to volunteer his time with some organizations.
“I am going to do some volunteer work with Boy Scout leadership training,” he said.
He is also going to volunteer with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and is planning on continuing his work with Quail Unlimited, a conservation group.
Bonner added that he is also going to get back into hunting and fishing.
“There are a lot of things that I am going to miss. The people here, the Corps team and our customers,” he said.