Jesse Kamradt

Jesse Martin Kamradt went home to be with the Lord on September 27, 2011.

Jesse Martin Kamradt was born to Otto and Helen Beard Kamradt on May 28, 1922 in a small home south of Empys Machine Shop on North Connelly St. in Clovis New Mexico. Otto was working for the Santa Fe Railroad as a boilermaker and it was convenient for him to walk to work from there.

The family soon moved to Friona Texas where Otto operated the citys power plant and Jesse began elementary school. They also lived in Petersburg, Texas around this time. They moved back to Grady New Mexico around 1931 where they stayed throughout the remainder of Jesses school years. They jumped him up a grade when he moved from Texas and he graduated from Grady High School in 1939 at the age of 17 and began his working career in earnest. He had studied welding and electricity in Ag classes and these skills would serve him well in the years to come. During High School he worked anywhere he could as most did in those days. He worked on farms, dug outhouses, did oddjobs and began installing electricity in farms and ranches in the area. One of his first projects was to wire the school Superintendents home. With the war on the horizon Lockheed or Boeing had opened an AP school at Clovis Municipal Airport the facility that later became Cannon AFB and Jesse attended there with his cousin Alfred.

He didnt stay to complete the curriculum, instead electing to answer the sirens call of California like so many other young men and women of that generation. He started out in early 1940, stopping in Phoenix to work on a nighttime road crew to build up his funds, finally arriving in Vallejo California later that year. He found a job in the Mare Island Navy Shipyard as a welder where he received several awards for efficiency. He worked there until his induction into the Army in 1943. He had received several deferments due to the importance of skilled shipyard workers to the war effort.

He served in WWII as a welderrepairman in the 802nd Army Marine Ship Repair Unit on the USARS Duluth, one of 6 US Army Repair Ships to see service in the Pacific. He was awarded the Philippine Liberation Campaign medal among other awards.
He returned to Grady after the war and courted Merle Price. They were married July 24, 1947, in the parsonage of the Baptist Church. They soon moved to Sacramento, California, where he worked for Sacramento Power and Light and Merle worked for the Telephone Company. They enjoyed their time in California but got homesick, returning to Grady in 1949. Jesse purchased an International 1941 International K5 2ton truck to move from California and kept it when they returned to start a trucking business as well as resuming electrical work. He was the fourth journeyman electrician licensed in New Mexico and carried license number 00004 for the next 50 years. The REA was expanding in northern Curry County and he kept busy wiring farms and ranches in the area throughout 1949 and 1950.

In 1950 he accepted a position with the US Army Corps of Engineers at Conchas Dam, New Mexico. He and Merle enjoyed 18 wonderful years at that posting. He started as a Damtender Electrical working on the electrical equipment in the dam and left after rising to the position of Assistant Resident Engineer in 1968 when he requested a transfer to Cannon AFB. The base was preparing to switch from F100s to F111s and was expanding to meet the 111s increased maintenance crew requirements. He worked primarily at Cannon AFB as a for the next 11 years as an Electrical Engineering Technician and Construction Representative, providing oversight for the construction of 30 major facilities at Cannon, many that are still in use today. Notable projects were the Base Chapel, Data Processing Building, Headquarters Building 1, the Gymnasium, the AGE Building and Storage Area and the Officers Open Mess. During this period he also supervised projects at Amarillo AFB, Webb AFB, Reese AFB and Ft. Bliss in El Paso
He retired from the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1974 and provided Quality Control Inspection on the new CommissaryBX as a contractor before being called back and working another couple of projects for the government. He left Civil Service for good in 1977, after having served 34 years, and resumed working the private sector where he for another 15 years with construction companies on projects in the Clovis and Cannon AFB area. Merle passed away in 1998 and Jesse filled his time with helping his son and grandchildren fulfill their dreams. He was a selfless man, dedicated to the success of his family. He consistently placed everyone elses needs and wants above his own.
He was honored by the US Army Corps of Engineers Albuquerque District as the Distinguished Civilian Employee of the Year in 2003.

He is survived by his brother, Charles Donna Kamradt: his son Randy Pamela Kamradt of Clovis three granddaughters, Christie Joseph Romero of Clovis, Jennifer Jason Altmiller of Amarillo, and Heather Kamradt of Amarillo. He has seven greatgrandchildren Anthony, Alexis, Alissa and Alexander Romero, Andrew and Austin Fox, and Blayze Vongsaphay.

Services for Mr. Kamradt will be held at 10:00 a.m., on Thursday, September 29, 2011 at the SteedTodd Chapel in Clovis. Serving as pallbearers are, Raymon Copeland, Tony Jones, Kenneth Truelock, Joseph Romero, Jason Altmiller, and Anthony Romero. Burial will follow at the Grady Cemetery in Grady, New Mexico.

Memorial contributions may be made in his honor, to the American Cancer Society, P.O Box 1856, Clovis, New Mexico 88101.

Arrangements are under the care and direction of SteedTodd Funeral Home Cremation, 800 E. Manana Blvd. Clovis, New Mexico 575 7635541. You may also sign the online guest registry at www.steedtodd.com .

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