Detlef 'Det' A.F. Liebe

Sierra Vista lost the only actively practicing professional civil engineer on 11/16/2022. Detlef A.F. Liebe, 86, known as Det, was the owner of Buck Lewis Engineering, Inc. Det lost his two-day battle with COVID. He was scheduled to get his 2nd booster the day before he died but, his underlying health issues made him unable to defend against this horrid virus. He may have contracted the disease trying to have a field meeting on some civil engineering project that belongs to one of the many customers that badgered him to take on their project. It was probably the last remaining piece of dirt in Sierra Vista that is still undeveloped, in a flood zone, needs to be elevated 7 feet and has no sewer access, no utilities, also on an ancient Indian burial ground and no legal access but whose owner hounded Det into taking on the project for their dream combo hot-dog stand/leather shop and fight with the City of Sierra Vista, AZDEQ, ADOT, ADWR, Cochise County and Liberty Water to get it approved. Det was born under the Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes and championed each one.

He always said he wanted to die at his drafting table with his P.E. stamp in his hand. Sadly, we couldn’t get his stamp to his hospital room, but his daughter, Gretchen brought his soccer ball and played Gordon Lightfoot tunes. Gretchen and two family friends held his hands and talked him to the other side as the tubes were removed.

Det arrived here from Guam 1995, in culture and climate shock with only a Members Only windbreaker against Sierra Vista’s February winds. He joined Buck Lewis Engineering as a senior staff engineer with 28 years’ experience. He designed oil field facilities in Libya, was THE Engineer for Yap State of Micronesia and Palau and worked on sewer systems in Wisconsin. The man knew his $hit.

Shortly after immigrating on a ship to the US in 1957 via Ellis Island, New York, he was drafted into the Army. He gave them the middle finger and enlisted in the Air Force instead. The joke was on them, though, the AF made him a truck driver. They didn’t know Det didn’t have a driver’s license, didn’t know how to drive, had never ever driven in his life, not an automatic transmission and certainly didn’t know how to drive a manual transmission for a truck. He didn’t even speak English. His mother tongue is German, northern German town of Helmstedt.

After his service was up, he used the GI Bill to attend University of South Carolina and received his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. Yep, got his degree in a technically hard field, heavy in math and in a foreign language, English. He never lost his accent and sounded like he fell off the potato truck yesterday, but he has forgotten more English (and math) than I ever knew. He did civil engineering the old school way, with his original college textbooks, doing the calculations by hand, long math. He called it “Bad Math”. There was no program to plug in variables and spit out the solution. He held a Professional Engineering license valid in several states. If you can be a civil in California, you can be a civil anywhere. In 1998, he took over Buck Lewis Engineering and went on to design projects all over Arizona and some in Texas. Several subdivisions in this area have his seal of approval on them as well as dozens of commercial projects: Applebees, Outback Steakhouse, Buffalo WW, Home Depot, Copper Sky, Copper Pointe, some phases of Castle and Cooke subdivisions, Family-Dollar Generals, grease traps, churches, the list is long.

Det loved to sail. He participated in several sailing competitions in San Diego with his brother Adolf and his small sailing vessel, SS Minnow. The end of the race was always met, regardless of the outcome, with much rejoicing and drinking, Pusser’s Rum and good German beer, not that watered down American stuff. Rejoice at surviving a 3-day regatta on a 30’ boat with no toilet.

He was a soccer fan. He played in club soccer in Germany and in Guam. He was an all-around exceptional player, but most enjoyed playing on the wing. When his kids were little, he coached soccer all over, teaching soccer fundamentals. He made soccer goals out of PVC pipes and hauled them to each practice session, so kids had a real visual of where to shoot.

Det left behind a lot of mementos and tchotchkes from all the places he lived and worked. Seriously, his kids need help getting rid of the hula lamps and cocoa nut carvings. There is a 1987 Mercedes-Benz 560 SL (with an old school car phone with a coiled cord still installed), needs to be sold make an offer.

His ashes were sprinkled at the top of a rock (not that rock easily accessible, this giant rock way off trail up there) in Cochise Stronghold on Saturday 11/19/2022. Several walked away with bits of him in their hair. He was celebrated that evening with a fabulous German meal of schnitzel, potato salad and good German beer and Jagermeister. He is survived by his adult children, Margarete (Gretchen) Liebe of Sierra Vista and Robert Liebe of Oceanside, California. He has four grandchildren, and four great grandchildren. His original sponsor for his immigration, Tanta Rose Marie is remarkably still alive and kicking in Texas. He was preceded in death by his wife of 39 years, Beverly, brother Thomas and beloved dog Max.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Detlef 'Det' A.F. Liebe, please visit our floral store.