132610

Problem Solver

It figures that Alan Bondarenko, with more than three decades in hydro-electric power, would have known a thing or two about dishwashers. Meticulous in his habits — "his checkbook was perfect," his wife, Julie, said — Mr. Bondarenko, 53, could not resist looking over her shoulder as she used the dishwasher in their Flemington, N.J., home. "He would check how I loaded the dishes because he was an engineer," Mrs. Bondarenko said. "He would critique it."

But Mr. Bondarenko was also a thoughtful, witty man who was always available to help with a problem and who took great satisfaction in his work.

In the 1970's, the couple spent more than two years in Pakistan, where Mr. Bondarenko worked on the Tarbella Dam, and later they lived in Argentina. Mr. Bondarenko, said his older son, Joseph, "taught us to be open to and accepting of other cultures."

Working for Washington Group International in the World Trade Center, Mr. Bondarenko itched to be out in the field. Just before he died, the couple considered living abroad again, perhaps in Turkey.

"We talked about how maybe we would go out one more time," his wife said. "We were in the process of discussing that."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on June 2, 2002.