HALUPNIK, EUGENE A. (September 24, 1929-August 7, 1993) was a civil engineer who played a major role in the construction and rehabilitation of roadway bridges throughout the Greater Cleveland area. He was an employee of the Cuyahoga County Engineer's Office from 1968 to 1992, serving in the positions of Bridge Engineer, Chief Engineer, Chief Deputy Engineer, and Special Projects Engineer. Structural design plans prepared under his jurisdiction included the replacement of the Harvard-Denison Bridge (1979), Northfield Road Bridge (1985), and Brooklyn-Brighton Bridge (1987), plus the renovation of the Hope Memorial (Lorain-Carnegie) Bridge (1983), Hilliard Road Bridge (1983), Lorain Road Bridge (1987), and Broadway (Whitehouse Crossing) Bridge (1988). He initially retired from the County in 1991 but was called back several months later to coordinate engineering plans for the reconstruction of the Burton Memorial (Main Avenue) Bridge, Ohio's longest roadway structure. His extensive knowledge of the project earned him the nickname "Grandfather of the Bridge."
Halupnik was born in Cleveland and grew up in the Slavic Village neighborhood. He graduated from South High School in 1946 and obtained much of his engineering expertise through self-education and on the job experience. His formal technical training included certificate degrees from the International Correspondence School in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the Wilson Engineering Correspondence School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Prior to his career with the County Engineer's Office, Halupnik worked with the Erie Railroad's Land and Engineering Departments in Corning and Sufferin, New York (1952-54) and with Cleveland-based engineering design firms Turnbull Inc. (1954-62), Beiswenger, Hoch, Arnold & Associates (1962-64), and Dalton, Dalton & Associates (1965-68).
He married Gloria l. Michalak on January 12, 1952. They had nine children: Steven, Timothy, Philip, Gregory, Gail, Cheryl, Mary Sue, Jeannie and Karen.