Cornie Leonard Hulsbos

Cornie Leonard Hulsbos, Ph.D., age 97, a resident for the last 11 months at Woodmark Uptown in Albuquerque, NM passed away on January 22, 2018.

Cornie was born in a farmhouse August 23, 1920, in Givin, Iowa, to Neal and Elizabeth (Bessie Van Klaveren) Hulsbos.  His older sister, Wilma (Hulsbos) VanderWilt was born in 1916. The family of four grew their own food and traded eggs and butter for what they couldn’t raise or grow on the farm. Growing up on the family farms, Cornie helped with chores using horse and mule drawn implements.

Cornie attended a five-room schoolhouse through 6th grade, that included grades 1 through 10 in Avery, IA, and then a one-room country school for 7th and 8th grades. He graduated from Eddyville High School in Eddyville, IA, in 1937. After finishing high school he moved to Ames, IA and worked his way through Iowa State College as it was known then, graduating in 1941 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering.

During WWII he worked for the American Bridge Co. in Ambridge, PA, as a foreman in the shipyards helping to build landing ships for tanks (LSTs) used in the Normandy Invasion and elsewhere throughout the war. While in PA, he met Elsie, the love of his life, and they were married June 21, 1945.

After the war, Cornie and Elsie moved back to Ames, IA, where he completed his M.S. and PhD. in Structural Engineering. He taught engineering at Iowa State College for 14 years, during and after his student years. During their years in Ames, he and Elsie had three children:  Susan, Betty (Zana), and David. In 1960 they moved to Bethlehem, PA, where Cornie served as Research Professor of Civil Engineering and as chairman of the Structural Concrete Division of the Fritz Engineering Laboratory at Lehigh University.

In 1965 the family moved to Albuquerque, NM, where he became Professor and Chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of New Mexico until his retirement in 1985. He was internationally known as an authority in the field of reinforced and pre-stressed concrete structures. He served as an expert advisor to technical organizations such as the American Concrete Institute, and the Highway Research Board. He had a passion for research as well as teaching and motivating his students. He always enjoyed talking about his students and the professors with whom he had worked. During his teaching years, he took his family on annual summer road trip vacations, staying at university campuses all over the U.S. while he attended engineering and highway research board conferences.

At retirement, Cornie was given a custom fly rod by the UNM Civil Engineering Department which began a hobby that was to last almost 25 years. His favorite fly fishing spot was the San Juan River where he taught family members how to catch the big ones.

Also after retirement, he made seven trips to the Netherlands and various other parts of Europe where he got to know extended family. Many of those family members he discovered through his genealogy research. He loved acting as tour guide on those trips for any family member who would join.

Some of his favorite activities included attending the UNM men’s (and later) the women’s basketball games for 50 years, camping all over the western U.S. in his travel trailer, fly fishing, bait-fishing, road trips, hiking, photography, serving as deacon with the First Presbyterian Church where he was a member for over 50 years, and visiting with family all over the U.S.  Every summer he grew a vegetable garden and for years, Elsie canned jars and jars of produce. After her death in 1978, he became almost as good a cook as Elsie had been, but he never stopped missing her.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 32 years, Elsie, in 1978; and also by his sister, Wilma VanderWilt in 2013.

He is survived by his daughters, Susan (Dean) Bursch, and Zana Burns; son, David (Mary) Hulsbos; grandchildren, Jennifer Bursch, Kim (Brad) Slease, Ashley (Adam) Fried, Megan (Jerry) Maher, Lia (Jordan) Gross, Kaitlin Hulsbos, Daniel Hulsbos; great grandchildren, Adalyn, Elsie, and William Slease, Stella Fried, Ryan Maher; nieces and nephews, and their children and grandchildren.

Many thanks to the Woodmark staff for making Cornie part of their family and to High Desert Hospice for their special tender care.

Visitation will be Friday, February 9, 2018 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at FRENCH – University.  Services will be held Saturday, February 10, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 215 Locust St. NE followed by Interment at Sunset Memorial Park, 924 Menaul Blvd. NE.

Pallbearers will be:

Jennifer Bursch – granddaughter

Kim Slease – granddaughter

Brad Slease – grandson-in-law

Ashley Fried – granddaughter

Lia Gross – granddaughter

Daniel Hulsbos – grandson.

Honorary Pallbearers:

Gerald May

Bud Wildin

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to:

C.L. Hulsbos Endowed Scholarship in Civil Engineering

UNM Foundation -Two Woodward Ctr

700 Lomas NE, Ste 108

Albuquerque, NM 87102