Background
Charles J. Astrue was born in Niles, California on June 12, 1888 and was educated at St. Mary's College in Oakland, California.
He began working for Southern Pacific in May 1906 as a rodman, and later served as a levelman, transitman, and draftsman on
the Western Division. From 1909-1912, Astrue was an office engineer and an assistant engineer on the Western Division in
Oakland and with the Portland, Eugene & Eastern (then part of SP) for two years. During World War I, Mr. Astrue served with
the U.S. Navy.
When World War I ended, Mr. Astrue went back to work for the Southern Pacific in San Francisco as an assistant engineer, chief
draftsman, office engineer, and in 1944 he became assistant chief engineer. Mr. Astrue died on January 15, 1979 in Marin
County.
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