Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2015 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Michigan Through The Centuries, Vol. IV Lewis Historical Publishing Co., N.Y. [387-388] VICTOR E. VALLET - An engineer by training and experience, Mr. Vallet is president of the engineering and architural firm of Giffels and Vallet, Inc., with main offices in the Marquette Building in Detroit. His technical experience has been invaluable in the building up of his own company, and he has directed many important construction projects in various parts of the country. Mr. Vallet is a native of Nauvoo, Illinois. He was born April 24, 1893, son of Gustave and Amelia (Bewersdorf) Vallet. Completing his public school education through the high school years at Nauvoo, he went west for his advanced studies, graduating from the University of Colorado in 1916 with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. In that year he returned to the Midwest and became a structural steel detailer with the American Bridge Company at Ambridge, Pennsylvania. His next position (1916-1917) was as designer on steel mill buildings and installations with the Mark Manufacturing Company of Hammond, Indiana. During 1917-1918 Mr. Vallet was with Mead Morrison Manufacturing Company of Chicago as a checker, working on structural steel shop drawings on ore bridges, conveyor galleries, material handling and installations. his next position, with LaSalle Engineering Company, also of Chicago, gave him experience in the design of five-thousand- and nine-thousand-ton ships. In 1919 Mr. Vallet became a designer on cement plant buildings and installations for the Universal Portland Cement Company of Chicago, Illinois. Later the same year he accepted a position as designer and squad leader on coke ovens, by-product plants and installations, his employer being By-Products Coke Company of Chicago, Illinois. In 1920-1921 he was squad leader of structural steel shop drawings for two coke oven and by-product projects for Koppers Company, at their branch engineering office in Chicago. Mr. Vallet joined the Alpha Portland Cement Company at LaSalle, Illinois, in 1921, accepting a position as designer and squad leader on cement plant buildings and installations. He as designer and squad leader on cement plant, power houses and manufacturing and assembly buildings for Albet Kahn and Associates of Detroit from 1922 to 1925. This connection completed, Mr. Vallet remained in Detroit to found the engineering and architectural firm of Giffels and Vallet, Inc. As president of the firm he has directed its operations in a number of important construction projects. The firm has carried out over a thousand projects for the Ford Motor Company, ranging from small plant alterations to a thirty-million-dollar aircraft engine plant. Other Detroit firms which Giffels and Vallet have served, and the work they have performed, includes: Kelsey-Hayes Wheel Company (foundry, manu- facturing plants, power alteration); Packard Motor Car Company (foundry alterations, chip disposal building, hangar, and flight test engineering building); Murray Corporation of America (manufacturing plants, at Scranton as well as Detroit); Continental Aviation and Engineering Corporation (aircraft engine test cells in Detroit, Muskegon and Texas), Giffels and Vallet, Inc., has also carried out large-scale construction work for the General Electric Company at Syracuse, New York; has built aircraft engine manufacturing plants in South Bend, Fort Wayne and Chicago for the Studebaker Corporation; and has erected a magnesium smelting plant and dolomite quarry at Spokane, Washington, for the Electro-Metallurgical Company of Buffalo, New York. In addition the firm has exercised executive control over the operations of field offices established for the execution of projects at Naval Operating Base, Norfolk, Virginia; Kingsbury Orinance Plant at Wahoo, Nebraska; and St. Louis Ordinance Plant at St. Louis. In addition to his position as president of Giffels and Vallet, Inc., of Detroit, Victor E. Vallet is president of two subsidiary organizations: Giffels and Vallet Southern Division, with head- quarters at Houston, Texas, and Giffels and Vallet, Ltd., of Canada. He has been a member of the Engineering Society of Detroit since February 1937, and is also a member of the Michigan Engineering Society and the American Society of Civil Engineers. In his own community, Mr. Vallet is a member of the Board of Commerce and the Economic Club. He is a director of the Boys' Club of Detroit, and past director of the Rotary Club. Other memberships include the Detroit Club, Detroit Athletic Club, and the Detroit Golf Club, and his fraternaties are Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Tau. Mr. Vallet is also a member of Palestine Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons, Detroit Commandery of the Knights Templar, and Moslem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. His favorite sports are bowling, golf and swimming. At San Diego, California, on July 15, 1915, Victor E. Vallet married Mina Robinson, daughter of Charles W. and Sarah (Scryemgour) Robinson. Mr. and Mrs. Vallet are the parents of the following children: 1. Charlene, born in Chicago in 1918. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and is married to Dr. Charles Tolle, a physician practicing in Pontiac. He served in the Naval Medical Corps during World War II, and spent considerable time in the Pacific Theater of Operations. He advanced to the rank of lieutenant comman- der. Dr. and Mrs. Tolle are the parents of three children: i. Michael. ii. Timothy. iii. Patricia. 2. Mary, born in Detroit in 1924. She graduated from Redford High School and from Michigan State College, and is now the wife of Asa Sherwood, Jr., of Detroit. He too is a veteran of World War II, having served with the United States Army in the Philippines. Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood have the following children: i. Cynthia. ii. Asa, 3rd. iii. Lynn. iv. Thomas. =========================================================================== If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access more of our growing collection of FREE online information by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/ ===========================================================================