William Fenning

Life and business

William Fenning born in Bronx, N.Y. in 1920. He spent much of his early life in Newark New Jersey, although his family traveled often during his childhood. He attended Newark Academy as a young man. Eventually his family relocated to Los Angeles, California, where he attended Los Angeles High School, and then the University of Southern California.

Fenning graduated with a degree in Business from USC before entering the armed services during WWII. He was accepted into an officer training program through the US Army Air Corps (now the Air Force), under which he served during World War II as a lead bombardier on a B-17 aircraft in the 7th Air Force Division. Fenning was stationed in England during the war, and flew more 37 missions over occupied Europe and Germany. He was highly decorated officer, and was awarded a Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal 6 times.

Following WWII, William Fenning came back to his L.A. base, and went to work as a salesman in the wholesale toy and sundries business, along with having a business interest in some other start-up business enterprises. In the early 50's he met and married Dione Rose, the daughter of Charles Rose, one of the founding brothers of Cleveland Wrecking Company, a renowned national demolition contractor. A few years after their marriage in 1950, William Fenning changed careers and took a job at Cleveland Wrecking Company, working in their Los Angeles branch office. In the late 1950s Fenning was appointed branch manager of the company's Los Angeles office, reporting directly to his father-in-law Charles Rose, who was located in San Francisco office. Throughout the 1960s the Los Angeles branch of Cleveland Wrecking Company continued it's growth and became one of the company's main profit centers. At that point, Charles Rose had passed away and William Fenning was appointed to serve as Executive Vice President in charge of the company's western U.S. operations. He became a board member of Cleveland Wrecking Company at that time. After continued growth and success with the company in Los Angeles, Fenning became the majority stockholder of Cleveland Wrecking Company in the early 1970s, after buying out the ownership shares of the elder Rose's. Under William Fenning's leadership Cleveland Wrecking Company expanded further into major industrial dismantling and investment recovery projects, dismantling major oil refineries, processing facilities and industrial plants. The company also expanded it's operations into Canada, with several projects in Vancouver, Calgary, and other Canadian locations. In the late 1980s the company also expanded into environmental contracting, as it was very closely related to many of its demolition and decommissioning projects. The company provided asbestos abatement, and handled a broadening array of environmental abatement and decommissioning specialties, Among the major projects of that era was the demolition and decommissioning of the entire Anaconda Smelter facilities just outside of Butte Montana. The company continued its growth and expansion through the 80s and early 90's, working in Puerto Rico, Newfoundland, Aruba, and even undertaking the demolition of the Walled City of Kowloon in Hong Kong (with an overseas partner). The company also opened a New York office during this era. William Fenning's son, Donald Fenning, joined the Cleveland Wrecking Company staff in 1975, and was later appointed as the company president in the early 1990s, with William Fenning remaining as C.E.O.

The home office of Cleveland Wrecking Company was in Los Angeles for the 25 years of William Fenning's leadership. In 1997, Cleveland Wrecking Company was acquired by Dames & Moore, a large engineering firm. The company became a part of Dames & Moore's subsidiary contracting division, as a part of their corporate expansion plan. The Dames and Moore group was subsequently acquired by the URS Corporation a few years later, which retained William Fenning as an executive adviser and consultant until 2005. However, many of the original Cleveland Wrecking Company key players and staff members left shortly thereafter, and the original company was somewhat fragmented from its original form as it was consolidated into the Dames and Moore hierarchy. Of note, is the subsequent acquisition of URS Corporation and all of its subsidiaries by AECOM, a huge international engineering and design corporation. It appears that AECOM is discontinuing its demolition operations, so its likely that Cleveland Wrecking Company will become dormanta sad footnote to over 100 years of operations since its founding by the Rose family.

William Fenning was a devoted family man and the father to four children, and a grandfather to nine grandchildren. He was active in the community and served in leadership positions at several charities and community organizations, including Cedars Sinai Medical Center and the Dubnoff School.

Fenning retired from his last position at Cleveland Wrecking Company in 2005, and resided in Los Angeles, CA, with his wife, until his passing on November 19, 2015.