Eric Lane Flavell, a beloved civil design specialist at Bowman Consulting in Indialantic, Florida, and an ASCE fellow, has died. He was 67.
When he and his wife followed their children from California to Florida, Flavell’s top priority wasn’t to mentor young engineers. But being a consummate professional, and it being no overnight task to build a municipal engineering division, coaching a new team up from scratch came naturally.
Flavell, P.E., F.ASCE, therefore plunged into the same instructional activity he enjoyed on his water polo teams. While joining his partner at Bowman Consulting on the private side of the work, he was also passing on what he knew and loved and feeding again off the energy of teamwork.
He grew up in Palo Alto, California, and attended Oregon State University, graduating in 1978 with degrees in civil and industrial engineering. On graduating, he married his college sweetheart Betty.
Flavell’s first job after college with John Carrollo Engineers provided him with valuable experience in water/wastewater design and inspection. Six years later he would join Flowers and Associates in Santa Barbara to build a public works unit serving multiple municipalities and agencies.
After 30 years he moved to Florida, where he was hired by Bowman to start another public works division while also acting as the city engineer for West Melbourne.
Flavell’s membership in ASCE was steady for over 45 years of a diversified career in design work. He was on local and national committees and served a term as president of the Santa Barbara Area Chapter.
An avid surfer, diver, and water polo player, Flavell was never far from pool or ocean.
