Bahler family

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The Bahler Family
Three generations of the Bahler famliy worked at Rohr Riverside.

Paul Bahler (father)

Paul was one of sixteen children, including a twin sister, born to Luella Catherine Cameron and Walter Jacob Bahler. He was born on January 8, 1927 in Louisville, Ohio and grew up on a farm.

He married his wife Evelyn in 1949. Evelyn was in the Air Force (WAF) in the Korean War while Paul was enlisted in the Army during the Korean War. According to his grandson Tim, Paul built his own house next door to the house he was living in.

Paul started out working in Production in 1952 at Rohr Riverside. He built struts for Boeing and Lockheed, for the KC-135, 707 and 737. According to colleague Roberto Caballero, "Paul was the greatest engineer that ever worked at Rohr." Another colleague that he worked with was D.T. Beeman.

REPEAT WINNERS! were Final Assembly areas in Rohr-Riverside's Cost Reduction Program.
Paul Bahler is in the back row, fourth from left.

In January of 1983, while a Manufacturing Engineer in Dept. 435, Paul retired from Rohr after 30 years of service. Paul actually went back to Rohr after the Challenger blew up, working on the tooling part of the Titan.

According to his son Tom, Paul enjoyed attending Rohr "retiree breakfasts on Thursdays at Flo's restaurant on Van Buren at 7:00 am."

Paul passed away at the age of 92 on October 29, 2019, in Riverside County, California.

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Tom Bahler (son)

Tom started working at Rohr in 1978. He worked at the Riverside, Arlington, and Edgemont plants. When asked what his fondest memories of working at Rohr were, Tom said "The people and assembling something that I am proud of."

According to Tom's son, Tim, when Tom and Brandal (another Rohr employee) were kids they would ride their dirt bikes near their homes on Jones Street. Mr. Paige lived in the same neighborhood and the dirt bike riding noise made him mad because he worked the 3rd shift at Rohr and needed his sleep.

During the 1986 strike at Rohr, Tom stayed home and did not cross the picket line.

Tom played in the Rohr softball league in the 1980s for the team Fly’n High.

He worked in many departments during his time at Rohr, and spent the last years working there in the Rework Dept. Tom’s dedication to his craft was second to none and he always had great music playing while doing repairs.

Tom retired from Rohr in August of 2022 after 44 years of service. He is spending his retirement in Pennsylvania.

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 Tim Bahler (grandson)

Tim started working in May 2001 at the Rohr Riverside plant shortly after Rohr became BF Goodrich, Goodrich, UTC, and then Collins (Raytheon). He worked as an assembler on the V2500, in R & D labs, Lean Center, and supervised in the Autoclave, TRENT, CF34, CFM, V2500, NEO, and Facilities departments.

He left the Riverside plant in December 2019 to become the Operations Manager in Collins Aerospace's Brea location, and soon after the Manager of Lean for the Hoist and Winch division. He left Collins in July of 2022 to pursue other career opportunites but looks back very fondly at his time at the Riverside facility. He remembers working with Stephen Brown (trainer), Jerry Martinez, and Paula DeDominicus. Tim is also very thankful to Larry Boyer for being his mentor.

 Tim and V2500 colleagues Gerry Wood, Noy, and Leticia Mitimier at a party in the break room for one of the employees, 2001.

Sources:

“21 people retire from Rohr-Riverside.” Rohr News 26, no. 2 (January 1983):4. http://rohrmemories.20megsfree.com/RNmidjan83.html.

Bahler, Tim. Interview, June 20, 2024.

Bahler, Tom. Interview, July 13, 2006.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/242591475/paul-bahler: accessed June 22, 2024), memorial page for Paul Bahler (8 Jan 1927–29 Oct 2019), Find a Grave Memorial ID 242591475, citing Crestlawn Memorial Park, Riverside, Riverside County, California, USA; Maintained by Heather B (contributor 47781960).