David E. Fleming

David Fleming, 95, a retired Architectural, Civil and Structural Engineer, died April 30 after a short illness, at Mill Vista Lodge in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Born in Creede, Colorado, the future President of The David E. Fleming Company graduated from Limon High School. He earned his B.S. in Architectural Engineering with Special Honors at the University of Colorado-Boulder in 1943, after serving as president of the University student body and being honored at Commencement as Cane Bearer, or outstanding male student. He was sent immediately by the Army Air Corps to the University of Chicago for a year of graduate study in the Department of Meteorology, emerging in 1944 to be assigned to a remote outpost in Labrador as a weather officer. He returned to Denver in 1946 and was employed in the office of the chief engineer, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, for 11 years. He was a supervisory engineer when he left to enter private practice in 1958 as a principal in the firm of A. J. Ryan and Associates, Inc., of Denver, consulting on many major national defense works including the NORAD Combat Operations Center at Cheyenne Mountain. He held similar responsibilities with Ketchum, Konkel, Ryan and Fleming of Denver for three years before opening his own firm, The David E. Fleming Company, in 1966. His company handled numerous major projects in the various fields of civil engineering, to include the development and operation of a computer simulation program believed to have greater capability than any other in existence, at the time, for modeling any river basin. As project sponsor in a joint venture with Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas of New York City, Mr. Fleming was responsible for developing the CORSIM II data bank and computer simulating program. CORSIM II (Colorado River Simulation Model) modeled the entire basins of both the Colorado and White rivers, taking into account all significant water rights and projects. CORSIM II lived up to expectations, and the model was used for the next couple of decades. Mr. Fleming was a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and was chairman of its 1966 Water Resources Engineering Conference. He held the presidencies of the Metropolitan Chapter and the Colorado Chapter of the Professional Engineers of Colorado, the Consulting Engineers Council of Colorado, and the chairmanship of the University of Colorado Engineering Development Council. He was elected a member of the Commission for Certification of the Consulting Engineers, Colorado. He was a member of the National Panel of Arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association and served on the University of Colorado Foundation Board of Advisors. Dave was a member of International Rotary and Denver Rotary for 50 years. Among the club's many philanthropic pursuits he particularly enjoyed sponsoring children through Denver Boy's, Inc. On October 22, 1987, the Denver club kicked off its campaign to raise $500, 000 for Rotary International's PolioPLus effort to immunize the world's children against polio and other diseases. On that day then-president Dave Fleming administered the oral vaccine to his two month old grandson, Devin, at the Denver Rotary podium. Survivors include his wife Lois of Highlands Ranch; two children, Shelley (David) Black of Evergreen, Dee Stieff of Albuquerque; and two grandchildren, Devin and Colleen. Retirement in the 1980's did not slow him down at all. In fact, he travelled all over the world, and enjoyed seeing the places he had always read about. While he was a voracious reader and never stopped studying and learning and doing, he always found the time to attend all of Devin's in-state Evergreen High School baseball games, and Colleen's swim meets. Well-travelled, well-read, well-loved -- he will be well-missed. We have lost a treasure. A Graveside Service is to be held Thursday, May 14, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. at Ft. Logan National Cemetery, Area ""A"". The Service will be immediately followed by a reception at Wind Crest Retirement Community, 3235 Mill Vista Road in Highlands Ranch. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that Memorial Donations be made to Denver Rotary Club, PolioPlus, 1900 Grant Street, Denver, Colorado 80203. Please share your memories of David and condolences with his family by signing the guestbook below.