Stephen Davison Bechtel, Sr. (September 24, 1900 – March 14, 1989) was the son of Bechtel Corporation founder Warren A. Bechtel, the father of Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr. and the grandfather of Riley P. Bechtel.

The Bechtel family moved to Oakland around 1906, and Stephen D. Bechtel, Sr. graduated first in his class from Oakland Technical High School in 1917.  He attended UC Berkeley, but dropped out in 1921 to join the Bechtel Corporation.  After Warren Bechtel passed away in 1933, Stephen became president of the Bechtel Corporation in 1935.  He is credited for taking the company international, and putting the company in a leadership position by building such iconic structures as the Bay Bridge and Hoover Dam.  

He lived for some time in the Bechtel Building near Lake Merritt, first with his mother and father, and then in his own apartment in the building, and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, California.

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