Eugene J. Daily, 85, founder of the civil engineering consulting firm Daily & Associates, died Aug. 21 in Palm Harbor, Fla. Mr. Daily, who was a consultant on Chicago’s Deep Tunnel project, started the company in 1963 and served as president and chief executive officer for 24 years. Several of the 17 original employees were his former students at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, where he was on the civil engineering faculty from 1947 to 1957. A native of Rolla, Mo., Mr. Daily was the valedictorian of the class of 1936 at the University of Missouri at Rolla. In 1996, he donated the last 75 acres of the family farm to the school. Mr. Daily’s career began with the Army Corps of Engineers. He was stationed in Kansas City, Memphis and Little Rock, Ark. During World War II, he was public works officer of the Naval Air Station at DeLand, Fla. Before and after the war, he worked as a field engineer and his work included converting the Army cavalry horse barns into facilities for tanks at Ft. Riley near Manhattan, Kan. He also designed the Illinois approach to the Mississippi River bridge to Dubuque, Iowa. Survivors include his wife, Jewell; two daughters, Carolyn Daily O’Connor and Kathleen Daily Wachowiak; a son, John E. Daily; and six grandchildren. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at Owens Funeral Home, 101 N. Elm St., in Champaign. Mass will be said at 1 p.m. Saturday at Holy Cross Church, 405 W. Clark St., Champaign.
