- Ballard-Sunder Funeral & Cremation - https://www.ballardsunderfuneral.com -

John F. Seidensticker

Posted By Ballard Sunder Funeral Home On August 22, 2015 @ 7:00 pm In 2015,Obituaries | 9 Comments

WEB John Siedensticker

John F. Seidensticker passed away on Saturday, August 22, 2015 at the age of 83. A Celebration of Life Service is Sunday, August 30, 2015 at 2:00 PM with visitation one hour prior at Ballard-Sunder Funeral & Cremation, Shakopee. Chaplain Peter Lund will preside and special music will be provided by Leanne Barck.

On January 29, 1932 Frederick and Ethel (Preston) Seidensticker celebrated the birth of their son, John F. Seidensticker, in Oak Park, Illinois. John was the youngest of 5 children (Jane, Margaret, Marie, Lillian and Bill). At a young age, John realized he had natural musical abilities. He began playing the piano at age 13 and it was a passion he had throughout his whole life.

After John graduated from Oak Park High School he attended school at Oberlin College in Ohio. Two years into his collegiate studies he transferred to Northwestern University where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering.

While John was in college, he met a secretarial student named, Jean. They fell in love and got married in September of 1956. John and Jean settled in Northbrook, Illinois and were blessed with two wonderful children, Andy and Marnie. As a family they enjoyed having backyard barbeques and traveling together. In the summer they took annual trips to Three Lakes, Wisconsin. John and Jean were together 25 years.

John supported his family by working as a civil engineer in the Chicago area. He began his career in Chicago where he was involved in the design of many high-rise buildings. John was employed for twelve years at Greeley and Hansen, a major engineering design firm specializing in water and wastewater treatment. His responsibilities included conceptual design and planning of all structures. In addition to this work, he taught in the school of Architecture at the University of Illinois Chicago as an Adjunct Professor. He also served on the Illinois Engineer Licensing Exam Committee. In 1985 John joined Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE) where he participated in more than 100 investigative engineering projects, including major bridge structures, long-span, wood glulam beam roofs, and Archimedes screw pumps. John had a reputation for being a hard worker and was very dedicated to his field. John retired from WJE after 18 years with the company.

John later met a wonderful woman named Esther. John and Esther were together until Esther passed away in 2005. They lived in Chicago and enjoyed 18 years together. He then moved to Minnesota in April 2006.

John enjoyed retirement, but he never stopped working. He always had some kind of project he was working on. John had a knack for fixing and building things, and he loved working with his hands. John also had a passion for photography. He even had his own dark room in his home and developed his own film. Some of John’s hobbies included target shooting, fly fishing, sailing, extensive reading, love of cats and playing the piano. He also kept a beautiful garden filled with plants and vegetables. John was an excellent cook and baker. He enjoyed cooking for family and sharing his special recipes with his grandchildren.

About 18 months ago, John was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He received excellent care from all of the staff at Park Nicollet Hospice. John became close friends with many members of his care team. After a courageous fight and an admirable life, John passed away peacefully during the early morning hours of Saturday, August 22, 2015 with his children by his side.

John was a kind, generous and loving man. He will be missed and remembered by his children, Andy (Sherrie) Seidensticker and Marnie (Peter) Miller; grandchildren, Jack Miller, Sophia Seidensticker and Wilson Seidensticker. John was greeted in Heaven by his first wife, Jean; second wife, Esther; parents, Frederick and Ethel; siblings, Jane, Margaret, Marie, Lillian and Bill.

Offer Condolence for the family of John F. Seidensticker

Print Obituary & Condolences Print Obituary & Condolences

Condolences for the family of “John F. Seidensticker”

Condolence from Barbara Miller on August 23rd, 2015 9:30 pm

Much love and prayers to John ‘s family as they plan to celebrate his life.

Condolence from Teddi Olson on August 24th, 2015 10:08 am

John was interested in everything. He could talk about anything with knowledge of the topic. He also had concern and compassion for what was happening in other people’s lives. An all around great guy. It was a blessing to have known him.

Condolence from Don and Linda Flack on August 24th, 2015 5:00 pm

Our thoughts are with all of you at this time.

Condolence from The Matt Miller Family on August 25th, 2015 11:21 am

Our sincere condolences to you and your family!!

Condolence from Wayne & Julia Knauss on August 25th, 2015 1:04 pm

So sorry to hear of your loss. Our prayers are with you all. God bless and may angels be with you.

Condolence from Mary Jo And Scott Seibert on August 26th, 2015 6:44 pm

We were neighbors on 3rd floor at Summerwood and enjoyed knowing John. He was a true gentleman and always had a welcome smile upon greeting you. We will miss that, however, he is finally “at home” and at peace! Godspeed, John.

Scott and Mary Jo Seibert

Condolence from Dawn Copeland on September 1st, 2015 6:42 pm

So sorry for the loss of your father. I had the honor and pleasure of being his friend for 10 years and serving him his meals at Summerwood in Chanhassen. He will always hold a special place in my heart. Marnie…..sorry I missed you Friday..please email me…I have something I would like to share with you.

Condolence from Marnie Miller on September 4th, 2015 1:31 pm

Dawn, thank you for your kind words. I left a message with your staff with my home phone number. Please call when you get a chance or email me directly at marniemiller@comcast.net

Condolence from ed ulrich on July 28th, 2016 2:20 pm

John F. Seidensticker
My friends and colleagues. I am sad to inform you John Seidensticker has left this world on Saturday August 22, 2016, to move into another. John succeeded as Committee 336 Chair after my term ended in circa 2000, but a sequence of strokes prevented him from leading.
I loved John and respected him as a person, structural engineer, and colleague. John was one of the civil engineering pioneers with a special interest in the relationship of foundation design to structural design. He was among that group whom you held with reverence in the foundation engineering profession. His valuable insight of the relationship of foundation design to structural design is matched only by Ralph Peck and Walt Hanson. I shall pray for him and his family and I hope you too will as well.
I first met John in 1980 when Committee 336 was bogged down in developing a new shallow foundations document that considered mat foundations. Getting the Committee unstuck was easy, but coping with the late Joe Bowles and his zeal to market his text books along with Structural Engineers engrossed in tall building design were the real challenges in moving the Committee forward. John was always there to keep our team on target and help us avoid “waiting.” Working with John was like working with Walt Hansen and Ralph Peck together. Always a gentleman, but with a strong sensitivity to the relationship of foundation design to structural design. He easily recognized that the successful design of a foundation was not in the structural analysis but in the limitations of subgrade reaction. John recognized that the Committee’s real objective was to provide industry guidance in foundation design and construction and not exist to follow because of there was no rational industry
I was particularly excited to learn he was a structural engineer in the WJE group because I had read most of the WJE early papers on building vibrations and damage thresholds when I was at the University of Illinois. He was very patient in explaining the non-reported details of the papers…He too, like many of us, now had to cope with the entry of new younger generations, but as long as you worked hard he was there for you. He tolerated me very well.
Soon after I was named Chair of Committee 336, a group of industrial structural engineers approached me to express their frustrations in connection with the details in ACI 318 Strength Design Method about foundation design. The big concern was that ACI 318 would no longer recognize Working Stress Design and the ACI 318 Stress Design Method would have to be used for foundation design. The ACI 318 language was vague and offered no leadership in structural foundation design. The dozen or so structural engineers who descended upon my office did not have convergence on foundation design. Each had their own method of foundation design using ACI 318. It would take 20 years of working with ACI 318 to improve the language and the journey was breathtaking.

For the first time in my career I realized that Structural Engineers do not understand foundation design. We were listening to structural engineers of major industrial design companies admit they did not know how to design foundations …. a shock to say the least. Later I would find out Walt Hanson was struggling with foundation design over the same ACI 318 concepts, and Walt had told Ralph not to offer comments on the topic.
But there was John…. steady, cool and unimpressed. He completely laid out the problem and how to cope with foundation design using the ACI Strength Design Method. He agreed that in the past foundation design could always be done by the Working Stress Design Method, allowing structural engineers to rely on the WSDM, but in relying only on the new Strength Design Method, the design community was not ready to accept larger foundations to support factored loads. He correctly diagnosed that using ACI 318 actually requires two loading systems: service loads for stability and factored loads for thickness and reinforcing but not stability. It was a disconnect in the factored load design method.
And from his assessment one could only conclude that ACI 318 was not applicable to foundation design using a single system of factored loads. Walt Hanson needed to accept that concept, but I did not think he would. John was the only structural engineer on the Committee willing to address the concept and work through the fundamentals to arrive at a rational conclusion. Yes it took a long time because we were very busy revising and updating Committee documents at an unmatched pace.
John was a pillar of Committee 336 achievement …. a foundation of the Committee of Foundations, a quiet leader among leaders. Yes, I miss him.

Article printed from Ballard-Sunder Funeral & Cremation: https://www.ballardsunderfuneral.com

URL to article: https://www.ballardsunderfuneral.com/john-seidensticker/

Copyright © 2015 Ballard-Sunder Funeral & Cremation. All rights reserved.