Designing and constructing landing strips on remote Pacific islands during World War II would seem to be a daunting task.
But the engineering feat 96-year-old Bill Ely may be most proud of is building a golf course on his family's 250-acre farm near hilly Claysville. And it keeps bringing him back to Washington County.
Ely, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general now living in Delray Beach, Fla., will swing north this week to attend his 75th reunion at West Point Military Academy in New York, and, of course, return to his beloved golf course. His wife, Helen, will accompany him as they meet family, friends and some of his old classmates.
"It's a major event they're living for," their son, Dick Ely, said of the trip to West Point and Washington County. "There's a new sense of energy and life and excitement."
It is unlikely that Ely, who grew up on a modest farm, could have foreseen graduating from West Point, building key landing strips in the Pacific and retiring as a lieutenant general in 1966.
After attending one year at Carnegie Tech - now known as Carnegie Mellon University - Ely applied and was denied admission to West Point. The academy told him he would be considered as an alternate for admission.
Not long after, on a summer day in 1929, Ely received a telegram that ordered him to report to the academy immediately.
"That was probably one of his happiest and greatest breaks in life," his son said. "He would have really struggled to get a degree."
That day led to a 33-year career in the military. While that distinguished career happened by chance, his son said, the golf course certainly did not.
While holding several civilian engineering jobs across the country, Ely decided to come back to Claysville in the late 1960s to convert the family farm into a nine-hole course. His aging parents could no longer tend to the daily needs of the farm.
He finished the course in 1970 for about $50,000, and built the back nine six years later after acquiring additional land from neighbors.
"He absolutely loved it," his son said of the former Double Dam course, now known as Dogwood Hills.
"It's very difficult to create a golf course on property in Claysville because of the hills," said Richard Cameron, a longtime friend and golfing buddy. "He did an amazing job, and he did it with his friends and farm equipment."
Cameron raved about Ely's ability to play the game even in his 90s.
That longevity on the golf course may help to explain why Ely will return to West Point this week to join the few remaining military academy classmates who graduated with him 75 years ago. He will march across the field with his class along with the other cadets.
It is a moment he and his family will cherish.
"I get emotional just talking about it," his son said.