Rino Bei, a civil engineer who was instrumental in building rail rapid transit systems in San Francisco and Sacramento, has died at his home in Sonoma. He was 81.
Mr. Bei was in charge of planning and design of the Muni Metro subway system, which transformed San Francisco's old Municipal Railway streetcar system. Before the Metro system went into service in 1980, the city's Municipal Railway rail cars all ran on the surface of Market Street. The Metro system, which cost $330 million, sped running times considerably. "He put the whole thing together,'' said Oral Moore, who worked with Mr. Bei in the city's utility engineering bureau.
Mr. Bei's service with the Muni did not always go smoothly. The start of the Muni Metro was plagued with delays and cost overruns, and Mr. Bei retired in April 1980, only a few days before service began. He said he had left because he was "a weary warrior,'' but as it turned out, he was a victim of a management shakeup by Richard Sklar, the city's new general manager of utilities, an autocratic man the newspapers liked to call "Sklar, the Muni Czar.''
Mr. Bei was sure his subway metro system was a good one. Building it, he said, "is going to turn out to be the best decision this city has ever made.''
"If I had to do it again,'' said Moore, "I would put Rino Bei in charge again. He did a good job of it.''
After he left the Muni, in 1980, Mr. Bei went to work as a vice president for Foster Engineering Inc. and was a resident consultant for construction of the RT Metro's light rail system in Sacramento.
One of his designs was a curving bridge that took the light rail trains over mainline railroad tracks.
Mr. Bei was born in San Francisco in 1922 and graduated from the old Polytechnic High School. He served in the Army's Eighth Armored Division as a lieutenant in World War II and saw action in the Battle of the Bulge, which began in December 1944. After the war, he served in the Army reserve and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
He attended UC Berkeley and received a degree in civil engineering in 1948. He then went to work for the city of San Francisco. His first assignment was on the city's Hetch Hetchy water and power project, where he established a reputation as an excellent engineer and manager.
In 1972 he moved to the Muni Metro project and he was in Sacramento from 1982 to 1987.
He is survived by his wife, Beverly of Sonoma; two daughters, Diane McLaughlin of Providence, R.I., and Gail Davidson of Australia; a son, Gary Bei of Santa Rosa; and by four stepsons: Michael, Donald and Gerald Lyons, all of Sonoma, and Dennis Lyons of Creswell, Ore. He is also survived by 19 grandchildren.
Mr. Bei, who died March 17, was buried Monday at the Sonoma Veterans' Memorial Park, attended by a military guard of honor.
Mr. Bei was in charge of planning and design of the Muni Metro subway system, which transformed San Francisco's old Municipal Railway streetcar system. Before the Metro system went into service in 1980, the city's Municipal Railway rail cars all ran on the surface of Market Street. The Metro system, which cost $330 million, sped running times considerably. "He put the whole thing together,'' said Oral Moore, who worked with Mr. Bei in the city's utility engineering bureau.
Mr. Bei's service with the Muni did not always go smoothly. The start of the Muni Metro was plagued with delays and cost overruns, and Mr. Bei retired in April 1980, only a few days before service began. He said he had left because he was "a weary warrior,'' but as it turned out, he was a victim of a management shakeup by Richard Sklar, the city's new general manager of utilities, an autocratic man the newspapers liked to call "Sklar, the Muni Czar.''
Mr. Bei was sure his subway metro system was a good one. Building it, he said, "is going to turn out to be the best decision this city has ever made.''
"If I had to do it again,'' said Moore, "I would put Rino Bei in charge again. He did a good job of it.''
After he left the Muni, in 1980, Mr. Bei went to work as a vice president for Foster Engineering Inc. and was a resident consultant for construction of the RT Metro's light rail system in Sacramento.
One of his designs was a curving bridge that took the light rail trains over mainline railroad tracks.
Mr. Bei was born in San Francisco in 1922 and graduated from the old Polytechnic High School. He served in the Army's Eighth Armored Division as a lieutenant in World War II and saw action in the Battle of the Bulge, which began in December 1944. After the war, he served in the Army reserve and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
He attended UC Berkeley and received a degree in civil engineering in 1948. He then went to work for the city of San Francisco. His first assignment was on the city's Hetch Hetchy water and power project, where he established a reputation as an excellent engineer and manager.
In 1972 he moved to the Muni Metro project and he was in Sacramento from 1982 to 1987.
He is survived by his wife, Beverly of Sonoma; two daughters, Diane McLaughlin of Providence, R.I., and Gail Davidson of Australia; a son, Gary Bei of Santa Rosa; and by four stepsons: Michael, Donald and Gerald Lyons, all of Sonoma, and Dennis Lyons of Creswell, Ore. He is also survived by 19 grandchildren.
Mr. Bei, who died March 17, was buried Monday at the Sonoma Veterans' Memorial Park, attended by a military guard of honor.
Rino Bei, a civil engineer who was instrumental in building rail rapid transit systems in San Francisco and Sacramento, has died at his home in Sonoma. He was 81.
Mr. Bei was in charge of planning and design of the Muni Metro subway system, which transformed San Francisco's old Municipal Railway streetcar system. Before the Metro system went into service in 1980, the city's Municipal Railway rail cars all ran on the surface of Market Street. The Metro system, which cost $330 million, sped running times considerably. "He put the whole thing together,'' said Oral Moore, who worked with Mr. Bei in the city's utility engineering bureau.
Mr. Bei's service with the Muni did not always go smoothly. The start of the Muni Metro was plagued with delays and cost overruns, and Mr. Bei retired in April 1980, only a few days before service began. He said he had left because he was "a weary warrior,'' but as it turned out, he was a victim of a management shakeup by Richard Sklar, the city's new general manager of utilities, an autocratic man the newspapers liked to call "Sklar, the Muni Czar.''
Mr. Bei was sure his subway metro system was a good one. Building it, he said, "is going to turn out to be the best decision this city has ever made.''
"If I had to do it again,'' said Moore, "I would put Rino Bei in charge again. He did a good job of it.''
After he left the Muni, in 1980, Mr. Bei went to work as a vice president for Foster Engineering Inc. and was a resident consultant for construction of the RT Metro's light rail system in Sacramento.
One of his designs was a curving bridge that took the light rail trains over mainline railroad tracks.
Mr. Bei was born in San Francisco in 1922 and graduated from the old Polytechnic High School. He served in the Army's Eighth Armored Division as a lieutenant in World War II and saw action in the Battle of the Bulge, which began in December 1944. After the war, he served in the Army reserve and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
He attended UC Berkeley and received a degree in civil engineering in 1948. He then went to work for the city of San Francisco. His first assignment was on the city's Hetch Hetchy water and power project, where he established a reputation as an excellent engineer and manager.
In 1972 he moved to the Muni Metro project and he was in Sacramento from 1982 to 1987.
He is survived by his wife, Beverly of Sonoma; two daughters, Diane McLaughlin of Providence, R.I., and Gail Davidson of Australia; a son, Gary Bei of Santa Rosa; and by four stepsons: Michael, Donald and Gerald Lyons, all of Sonoma, and Dennis Lyons of Creswell, Ore. He is also survived by 19 grandchildren.
Mr. Bei, who died March 17, was buried Monday at the Sonoma Veterans' Memorial Park, attended by a military guard of honor.
Mr. Bei was in charge of planning and design of the Muni Metro subway system, which transformed San Francisco's old Municipal Railway streetcar system. Before the Metro system went into service in 1980, the city's Municipal Railway rail cars all ran on the surface of Market Street. The Metro system, which cost $330 million, sped running times considerably. "He put the whole thing together,'' said Oral Moore, who worked with Mr. Bei in the city's utility engineering bureau.
Mr. Bei's service with the Muni did not always go smoothly. The start of the Muni Metro was plagued with delays and cost overruns, and Mr. Bei retired in April 1980, only a few days before service began. He said he had left because he was "a weary warrior,'' but as it turned out, he was a victim of a management shakeup by Richard Sklar, the city's new general manager of utilities, an autocratic man the newspapers liked to call "Sklar, the Muni Czar.''
Mr. Bei was sure his subway metro system was a good one. Building it, he said, "is going to turn out to be the best decision this city has ever made.''
"If I had to do it again,'' said Moore, "I would put Rino Bei in charge again. He did a good job of it.''
After he left the Muni, in 1980, Mr. Bei went to work as a vice president for Foster Engineering Inc. and was a resident consultant for construction of the RT Metro's light rail system in Sacramento.
One of his designs was a curving bridge that took the light rail trains over mainline railroad tracks.
Mr. Bei was born in San Francisco in 1922 and graduated from the old Polytechnic High School. He served in the Army's Eighth Armored Division as a lieutenant in World War II and saw action in the Battle of the Bulge, which began in December 1944. After the war, he served in the Army reserve and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
He attended UC Berkeley and received a degree in civil engineering in 1948. He then went to work for the city of San Francisco. His first assignment was on the city's Hetch Hetchy water and power project, where he established a reputation as an excellent engineer and manager.
In 1972 he moved to the Muni Metro project and he was in Sacramento from 1982 to 1987.
He is survived by his wife, Beverly of Sonoma; two daughters, Diane McLaughlin of Providence, R.I., and Gail Davidson of Australia; a son, Gary Bei of Santa Rosa; and by four stepsons: Michael, Donald and Gerald Lyons, all of Sonoma, and Dennis Lyons of Creswell, Ore. He is also survived by 19 grandchildren.
Mr. Bei, who died March 17, was buried Monday at the Sonoma Veterans' Memorial Park, attended by a military guard of honor.
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