Charles Terry Dooley
June 24, 1930 – September 27, 2020
Please join ACI SoCal in the celebration of the life of Charles “Terry” Dooley who led a full life of service to family, career, and community. Terry’s continued leadership and support of the Southern California construction industry made him a pillar of our community.
Terry was born in Hammond, Indiana. After receiving a BA in Liberal Arts from St. John’s University in Minnesota in 1951, also the year he married the love of his life, Kathleen Hughes Dooley, the Dooley’s relocated to Champaign, Illinois. In Champaign, Terry completed his BS in Civil Engineering in 1954 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. After graduation the Dooley family relocated to the west coast where Terry took a position with Bethlehem Steel. He received his ME degree from UCLA in 1969, in the Executive Engineering Program. In 1981, Terry started with Morley Builders in Santa Monica where he worked for 21 years. During his tenure at Morley Builders, Terry lead the construction of multiple high-profile projects in Southern California including Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.
Terry was committed to giving back and contributing to the professional community, including his involvement with ACI, ACI SoCal, SEAOSC, and other organizations. Terry was a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the co-winner of its 1991 Awards for Innovation in Civil Engineering for Rockwell Building 80. He was an Honorary Member of the American Concrete Institute and received its Corbetta Award for “contributions to the advancement of construction techniques in seismic repair and retrofit.” He was also an Honorary Member of the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California. Terry participated in many industry organizations and served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and chaired its Construction Industries Committee. Terry served on the Board of Directors for ACI SoCal between 1984 and 1988 and served as president in 1988. Terry received the Sam Hobbs Service Award in 1991.
After retiring from Morley Builders in 2002, Terry founded the ACE Mentor Program in Southern California, where his leadership and passion for helping students led to the creation of 27 inner-city high school teams each paired with a half-dozen mentors from the southland’s top firms in architecture, construction and engineering.
His dedication and care for family, upstanding character, work ethic, and enthusiasm for live music performances and ice cream will be missed. Terry leaves behind his wife of 69 years, Kathy, six children, twelve grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren. Services are pending. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to ACE Mentor, MEND or St. Andrew’s Abbey.
The Board and members of the Chapter express our sadness and condolences to his loved ones at this time.
Should you like to attend Terry’s funeral on Friday October 23, 2020 at 10:30am Pacific Time, it will be viewable on Facebook at the following address: https://www.facebook.com/StCyrilofJerusalem
Note, in-person attendance at the funeral has been restricted to immediate family.
Please visit www.cterrydooley.com for Terry’s full obituary.
