Gabriella L. Turnay, a New York City-based editorial researcher who worked for McGraw-Hill's education division and Engineering News-Record during her 48-year career, died on July 20 following a long illness. She was 82.Turnay joined ENR in 1967 as an editorial research associate; she compiled the ENR Index, a semi-annual listing of topics covered in the magazine, until it was replaced in 1984 with computer databases. Turnay also proofread the magazine, managed payments to freelance writers and supervised reprint permissions. Prior to joining ENR, Turnay worked for 16 years as an editor in McGraw Hill's education division, where she was involved

BRANUMW. Howell "Hal" Branum, president of Professional Service Industries Inc., an Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based engineering and environmental consulting firm, died of a heart attack on July 1 while visiting Denver. He was 69.President since 2000 and, before that, chief operating officer, Branum oversaw the integration of numerous acquisitions as the company grew. Now boasting 125 offices and 2,500 employees, the firm specializes in geotechnical engineering, construction-materials testing and engineering, and industrial hygiene. A 32-year veteran of the firm, he led many of its high-profile projects, including Denver International Airport and the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington,

John C. Truesdale TRUESDALE, a Democratic former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board and five-term veteran, died on July 3 from cancer in Annapolis, Md., said the board. He was 89. Truesdale served under recess appointments by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, retired once, and then served again as chairman in 2001 at age 80. In 1995, he upheld an NLRB administrative ruling that the carpenters' union could not fire 10 independent union group members for “disloyalty” during a 1991 organizing drive. He and two other board members ordered Sigurd Lucassen, then union president, to re-instate and compensate

Richard C. Halpern, a Chicago-based construction manager who oversaw numerous high-profile domestic and international building projects during a 50-year career, died July 3 of complications from cancer treatment in Houston. He was 78. Photo: courtesy of Rebecca Halpern Richard Halpern As an executive at former building firm Morse Diesel, Halpern managed the construction of the Sears Tower, the world’s tallest building when it opened in 1974. He was among three executives cited by ENR in 1974 for their roles in the landmark project, which included the industry’s first major effort to recruit minorities into its workforce.In 1976, Halpern co-founded CM

There had not been a practicing architect as Architect of the Capitol for some 100 years when George M. White took the post in 1971. But during his 25-year term, the former American Institute of Architects' vice president also used his electrical engineering, business and law training to manage large congressional and other U.S. building projects as well as steer design and project management in new directions that were not always supported by industry or his Capitol Hill bosses. PHOTO: COURTESY OF AOC CAPITOL IDEA MAN White created the first master plan for the future U.S. Capitol complex. White died

Alexander A. “Sak” Sakhnovsky, a pioneer of test methods for curtain-wall stability, died of heart failure at age 84 on June 19 in Miami. SAKHNOVSKYWhile running a housing research laboratory at the University of Miami, Sakhnovsky was among the first to perform window testing, in 1954. A trained chemist, he was instrumental in developing, in the 1960s, the American Society for Testing Materials' static water- leakage test. It remains virtually unchanged today. Sakhnovsky bought the lab and launched Construction Research Laboratory Inc. (CRL), Medley, Fla., in 1968.CRL is considered the world's first and largest curtain-wall test facility, with 40 test

MCLAUGHLINTimothy L. “Timmy” McLaughlin was set to step down on June 30 as president of the national American Subcontractors Association Inc., but his term ended unexpectedly on June 9 when he suffered a fatal heart attack in Charleston, S.C. He was 62. Active in the Alexandria, Va.-based specialty contractors advocacy group for more than 20 years, McLaughlin was also general manager of Austin Construction Co. Inc., a site and utility contractor in Summerville, S.C. His successor at the 4,500-member ASA is Kerrick Whisenant, president-elect and pre-construction director of Cornerstone Detention Prod-ucts Inc., a Tanner, Ala., detention equipment and security electronics

BENNETTJames P. “Jim” Bennett twice turned down invitations, dating back to 1973, to join Canada's PCL Construction Enterprises Inc. He finally came aboard 15 years later, in 1988, as vice president of its Denver building unit, eventually leading its U.S.-based operations in building and civil construction, which included the contractor's push overseas. A former president of two PCL units, Bennett died on June 9 in Georgetown, S.C., at age 74 of a massive stroke, says the firm. A former vice president of J.A. Jones Construction Co. and president and CEO of Rogers Construction Co., Bennett became PCL Construction building unit

Timothy L. “Timmy” McLaughlin was about to step down June 30 as this year’s president of the American Subcontractors Association Inc., (ASA), but his term came to a more abrupt end when he suffered a fatal heart attack on June 9 in Charleston, S.C. He was 62. MCLAUGHLIN McLaughlin, active in the Alexandria, Va.-based specialty contractors advovcacy group for more than 20 years, also was general manager of Austin Construction Co. Inc., a site and utility contractor in Summerville, S.C. Immediately succeeding him is Kerrick Whisenant, ASA president-elect, who was to have assumed the 4,500-member group’s top role on July

Photo courtesy of Fluor Corp. Les McCraw led the contractor into new markets and pushed safety, the firm says. Leslie G. “Les” McCraw, who expanded Fluor Corp. into a global diversified powerhouse in the 1990s as chairman and CEO but whose forays were costly and prompted successors to shed non-core businesses, died on May 25 in Greenville, S.C., at age 75.He suffered from cancer since 1997, when he stepped down from the construction giant.McCraw rose quickly through the Fluor executive ranks after its purchase of Greenville-based Daniel Construction in 1977. He was named Daniel CEO and joined the Fluor board