Résumé

Structural Engineer, C.H. Snyder, Engineer, San Francisco, CA. c. 1931. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1931, p. 1025.)

Structural Engineer, Oakland Public School System, Oakland, CA, 1934. Construction work dried up during the early years of the Depression, and a government job with the public school district would have been reliable, steady employment. (See Oakland, California, City Directory, 1934, p. 644.)

According to a web site produced by the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California, Pregnoff's work with the Oakland School System would be of lasting value. It stated: "Michael Pregnoff was the principal author of the 1953 'Report on Structural Stability of Certain Old School Buildings in the Oakland Unified School District.' The report used a system of ratings for buildings categorized as Good, Fair, Poor, or Very Poor. These ratings reflected Pregnoff’s judgment of the expected extent of damage, ranging from Negligible, Some, Considerable, Great, or Very Great with respect to modified Mercalli earthquake intensities of VII, VIII, IX, and X. This rating methodology would later be adopted as the University of California Seismic Safety Policy in 1975 and still serves as the basis for the University’s seismic risk mitigation work today." (See Structural Engineers Association of Northern California, "Michael Pregnoff," accessed 04/24/2020.)

Principal, Michael V. Pregnoff, Engineer, San Francisco, CA, 1941. While working on his own, he had an office at 350 California Street in San Francisco. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1449, accessed 04/23/2020.)

Partner, Hall and Pregnoff, Structural Engineers, San Francisco, CA.

Partner, Hall, Pregnoff and Matheu, Structural Engineers, San Francisco, CA.

Partner, Pregnoff and Matheu, Structural Engineers, Palo Alto, CA, c. 1963. In 1963, Pregnoff and Matheu had an office in Room #265 of the Town and Country Village complex, just across El Camino Real from Stanford University. (See Palo Alto, California, City Directory, 1963, p. 360.)

Partner, Pregnoff, Matheu, Kellam and Beebe, Structural Engineers, San Francisco, CA.

Professional Activities

Member, Structural Engineers Association of Northern California (SEANC).

Chair, American Concrete Institute (ACI), Deflection of Concrete Structures Subcommittee. According to the SEANC web site, “He led a study of recommended standards for evaluating drying-shrinkage properties of concrete members.” (See Structural Engineers Association of Northern California, "Michael Pregnoff," accessed 04/24/2020.)

College

Four years of coursework, Polytechnic Institute of Vladivostok, Valdivostok, Russia, (later known as the "Far-Eastern State Technical University, Vladivostok"), c. 1920.

Relocation

As noted on his World War II draft registration card, Mikhail Victor Pregnoff was born in the city of Nikolsk, Russia. There are a number of cities in Russia by this name, iincluding a notable one in the Volograd Oblast. It is likely, though, that he came from the city known as "Nikolskoye" (prior to 1898), "Nikolsk-Ussuriysky," (between 1898 and 1935), and "Voroshilov" (after 1957). The 1996 publication, Connections, an oral history prepared on Pregnoff and another engineer, indicated that he had been born nearVladivostok. (See Connections: The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Oral History Series: Michael V. Pregnoff and John E. Rinne, [Oakland: EERI, 1996], p. 3.)

He received his engineering training at the Polytechnic Institute of Vladivostok, a key Siberian port city about 60 miles south of Nikolsk-Ussuriysky. This school may have been a hotbed of support for the Imperial family during the Russian Civil War (1917-1922), that erupted during the latter stages of World War I. The city of Vladivostok changed hands several times during tthis period between Soviet and Allied-aligned forces, including the "Czechoslovak Legion" which at one time controlled the newly completed (in 1916) Trans-Siberian Railway. The Allies, the US (through its 8,000-man "American Expeditionary Force Siberia,"), Canada/British Empire (with its "Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force"), Japan, and China, used the port city as a beachhead in Siberia to continue the war against Germany, rescue members of the Czechoslovak force and remove local Chinese merchants in the region. Additionally, although not explicitly stated, he Allies hoped to defeat Bolshevik forces in Eastern Russia. The presence of Allied transport ships in the port of Vladivostok would have eased the path to immigration for White-aligned citizens of the city.

Pregnoff may have known the mining engineer, geologist and paleontologist Maxim Konrad Elias (1889-1982), who taught at the Polytechnic Institute of Vladivostok by 1920 and moved to the US in 1922, where he worked as a geologist for the Kansas State Geological Survey. He earned a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1939, and became.a paleontologist with the Nebraska Conservation and Survey Division between 1939 and 1958.

Like Elias, Pregnoff left Russia during its Civil War, (1917-1922), and settled in the US. He selected San Francisco, CA, where he was working by 1922. His early years in the Bay Area were marked by frequent domestic moves.

Married c. 1928, Pregnoff and his first wife, Stella, had a residence at 1485 Clay Street in 1929. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1929, p. 1229.) With their young daughter, Vivian, they relocated to an apartment in the Haddon Hall Apartments at 935 O'Farrell Street in San Francisco, as per the 1930 US Census. A year later, they dwelled at 1770 Haight Street in San Francisco. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1931, p. 1025.)

A year or so after his divorce (c. 1933), Michael lived with his daughter at 2333 9th Avenue in Oakland, CA. (SeeOakland, California, City Directory, 1935, p. 684.)

Pregnoff had remarried by 1940, and lived with his second wife, Tena, at 628 26th Avenue in San Francisco. He rmay have etained custody of their daughter after his divorce, as she was listed as living at this address with them.

According to his World War II draft registration card of 1941, Pregnoff and his wife resided at 4530 Balboa Street in San Francisco, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1449, accessed 04/23/2020.)

Pregnoff worked in Palo Alto, CA, in 1963, but he and his wife, Tena, resided in San Francisco. (See Palo Alto, California, City Directory, 1963, p. 360.)

In 1980, he continued to make his residence at 4530 Balboa Street in San Francisco. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information: U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Voter Registration Lists, Public Record Filings, Historical Residential Records, and Other Household Database Listings, accessed 04/24/2020.)

He died in San Francisco, CA, at the age of 96.

Spouse

He wed Stella Gillam, (born c. 1909 in CA), c. 1928. This marriage didn't last long. They were recorded as living together in 1931. In 1934, however, the Oakland, California, City Directory, 1934, (p. 644), listed Stella and Michael's names separately at the same address, 1438 Madison Street. Stella would marry James D. Bulmer in Los Angeles, CA, on 02/01/1934. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: California Department of Public Health, courtesy of www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com. Digital Images, accessed 04/23/2020.)

He married Lena Mae Ingleson (born 08/27/1905 in CA-d. San Francisco, CA, 05/25/1996) before 1940. She was known as "Tena," sometimes spelled "Tina." (She may not have liked her unusual birth name, "Bythinia," which was recorded in the 1930 US Census.) This census indicated that she lived in a rented house with her parents, Charles and Alma Ingleson, in Alviso, CA, and worked as a waitress in a candy store. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: Alviso, Santa Clara, California; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0039; FHL microfilm: 2339953, accessed 04/23/2020.)

Pregnoff likely met her while he lived and worked in Oakland during the mid-1930s, as she was listed as having resided in Oakland in 1935 in the 1940 US Census. (This census also noted that she had completed two years of high school.)

Children

He and Stella had a daughter, Vivian Mae Pregnoff, (born c. 1929 in San Francisco, CA).

Biographical Notes

The California Death Index erroneously recorded Pregnoff's birthdate as 11/01/1901. (PCAD used this date before correcting it to 11/01/1900 on 04/23/2020.)

The engineer, at age 41, was described on his World War II draft registration card as Caucasian, standing 5-feet, 8-inches tall, weighing 163 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair. This card indicated that he had a ruddy complexion and a scar over his right eye. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1449, accessed 04/23/2020.)

SSN: 567220621.

• San Francisco, CA (Architect's Death)
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