Will Benefield was quiet, thoughtful, inquisitive and pragmatic. He grew up in the mountains of Utah, where he developed a deep love for the natural world. He enjoyed hiking, skiing, kayaking, flying kites, cooking, and spending time with friends and family. Through nature he found peace, inspiration and a great sense of perspective.
Will Benefield, 1992-2022
Being an engineer seemed to be built into him. He was always building, fixing and improving things, and he couldn’t help but see ways to make things better. His mother Stacy recalls a teacher once asking him, “Do you ever stop thinking?” He looked at her puzzled and said, “No.”
Will spent a year and a half as a project engineer on Janicki’s metal tooling team. In December 2022, just weeks after an unexpected cancer diagnosis, he passed away on Christmas Day. His loss was felt by everyone who knew him.
Will Benefield, pictured on a bridge, found peace and inspiration in the natural world.
In the weeks that followed, his parents Mike and Stacy visited Janicki and the team Will had worked with. They encouraged us to honor his memory the way he would have wanted: by going outside and enjoying nature together. Those words stayed with Will’s manager, Curtiss Melder, and set him on a path to find a way to make that happen.
Finding the Right Project
A half mile up Fruitdale Road from Janicki’s Highway 20 plant, the City of Sedro-Woolley was developing Olmsted Park on the Northern State Hospital Complex. One of the trails would create a loop around Thompson Pond, but it needed a bridge to cross Brickyard Creek. Curtiss thought of contributing to the project in Will’s memory. After speaking with leadership about his idea, Janicki was approved to help fund and build a memorial bridge.
Janicki employees work to construct the Olmsted Park bridge.
The original plan called for a simple 12-foot footbridge on concrete pedestals. It seemed like a straightforward project, but after the Department of Fish and Wildlife reviewed the site, it determined a much larger structure was required to meet the high-water mark for a 100-year floodplain. The design evolved into a 31-foot wood and steel bridge on concrete risings four feet above the waterline.
Construction was a collaborative effort. A civil engineer developed and signed off on the drawings, and the city handled all permitting. Janicki donated materials, with additional donations and reduced-cost supplies from Miles Sand and Gravel, Morse Steel and Brooks Manufacturing. Art Tuftee, an avid trail builder with extensive experience constructing bridges in local parks, provided guidance, excavation and hands-on support throughout the build.
Twenty-four Janicki employees contributed more than 400 volunteer hours to the project, working on weekends and after work, and the bridge was completed in late September.
Olmsted Park Ribbon Cutting
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, from left: Curtiss and Colette Melder, Robbie Parsons, Stacy and Mike Benefield, Michael Huo and Mike VanderWel.
On March 20, the City of Sedro-Woolley held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Olmsted Park. Will’s parents, Mike and Stacy attended, as well as several Janicki employees who contributed to the project. The park is set to officially open to the public May 1, pending completion of hydro seeding, and will feature ADA-accessible trails, picnic shelters, pavilions, a dock onto Thompson Pond, restrooms and parking.
Will’s bridge crosses a babbling section of Brickyard Creek, surrounded by ferns and mossy trees that lean in close. It is the kind of place that slows you down and asks you to be still. A plaque on the bridge bears one of his favorite quotes by John Muir:
“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.”
We hope this bridge will honor Will’s memory and allow many people to enjoy the beauty of this new park and the outdoors he loved.
For more information on Olmsted Park, visit the City of Sedro-Woolley’s park page.