Richard C Bain

Richard C. Bain, Jr.

Richard C. Bain Jr passed away Sunday, January 10, 2010 at his home in Campobello, South Carolina.

Dick was born in Manhattan, New York on October 7, 1935. He attended Asheville School in North Carolina. He received a scholarship to Duke University and went on to complete his Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from Yale University. He spent the majority of adult life on the west coast, a pioneer in the fledgling field of Environmental Engineering. Dick was involved in problem-solving the clean-up strategy for the offshore oil platform spill near Santa Barbara in 1969, an event that gained national attention, and he was a lifelong proponent of conservation and ecology – long before it was fashionable. It was during this time the EPA and Earth Day were founded. Later, Dick was invited by the Carter administration to comment on environmental policy development.

After a stint working for the U.S. Public Health Service in San Francisco, he joined the environmental and consulting engineering firm of Brown and Caldwell. He was promoted to Vice President and relocated to Vashon Island in 1973 with his family, including infant daughter Margery (now deceased) in order to open and manage Brown and Caldwell’s Seattle office.

Dick continued this work in Seattle until the mid 1980’s when he relocated to Ellensburg, Washington where he hung out his shingle as an independent engineering consultant specializing in water-related issues including addressing farmers’ irrigation, pollution and salmon hatchery issues throughout eastern Washington until his retirement in 2001. He was recognized at state and federal levels for his professional contributions to the area of water pollution and waste management. Dick served on several local committees while on Vashon Island, mainly related to land use planning and water issues. He was appointed to the newly created Park and Recreation District Board by the County supervisors and was instrumental in developing plans for the park now on the site of the old U.S. Army Nike Missile Base. He was involved in acquiring shoreline areas to protect these resources. Dick referred to himself as a “Luddite” and often commented that he was born in the wrong century. He designed and built four homes incorporating features of English Tudor design. One of these homes is the former Swan Inn on Vashon Island. The Swan Inn operated as a bed and breakfast in the 1980’s and again in the early 1990’s. The site of many weddings, it won several awards and was featured in periodicals and on television. A keen marksman, he joined the Sportsmen’s Club where he, along with 6 or 8 other muzzleloading flintlock rifle enthusiasts, formed the Judd Creek Rifles. While on Vashon, Dick renewed his early interest in music and joined the Vashon Celtic Players, increasing his proficiency as a fiddler. He went on to compete and place in numerous competitions around the country, most recently in October 2009, winning the Georgia State Senior Fiddler Champion title.

Post retirement, he maintained a home in New Zealand and, in 2003, realized his dream of owning a log cabin in the Smokey Mountains. He restored a civil war era federal style house in Campobello, SC where he lived until his passing from cancer.

He is survived by his wife, Margaret Clark Bain of Campobello, SC, his daughter, Miranda Bain Jarman and her husband Jeff, of Queensland, Australia, his mother Margery Bain Franklin of Tryon, NC, his sister Gale Ironside of Landrum, SC, and his brother Peter D. Bain of Hendersonville, NC.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, September 19th at 2:30pm at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit on Vashon Island.

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