Walter E. Fauerso was born in The Dalles, Oregon, on Dec. 7, 1919, one of six children.

Walt graduated with an MS in Mechanical engineering from Oregon State University in 1947.

He was a Lieutenant on Crew 29 serving as their Flight Engineer and flew 21 missions.

He wed Esther Weibel. They were married for nearly 62 years until Esther's passing (in Jan. 2006); they have three children, Paul, Janet and Karen; three grandchildren and one great-grandson.

He worked for Standard Oil (now Chevron) for 30 years at the Richmond Refinery, he had may positions including Chief Design Engineer.

He was a community leader in the Contra Costa area, serving as a member of the Richmond School Board, Richmond Planning Commission, and the Neighborhood House.

He helped start the Save the Plunge Organization which is renovating the Richmond Plunge Swimming Center and he was Treasurer of St. Lukes Methodist Church.

After retiring he founded the Chevron Retirees Tree Planting Program which planted over 100,00 trees in Northern California. Walt loved music and sang for many years in the St. Lukes Choir.

He was a member of the West contra Costa Civic Music Association and the San Francisco Symphony Foundation.

He also loved camping with his family, fly fishing, swimming, hiking and playing golf.

He was a philosopher, educator, and possessed a great sense of humor Group.