HI ALL
found this on the illinrail and thought it should be shown i dont know him
bill ewinger
----- Original Message -----
From: EDWARD ROBERT SIROVY <esirovy@c...>
To: IlliniRail <illinirail@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, May 18, 2001 7:57 PM
Subject: [IlliniRail] Re: Trains.com News Wire — May 17, 2001
> Another member of the old ILLINI RAILROAD CLUB of CB&Q steam days dies.
>
> Trains.com News Wire — May 17, 2001
> Updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday
> by Bill Stephens
>
> Historian, rail enthusiast mentor Dick Stair dies
>
> Richard P. "Dick" Stair, 81, retired Illinois Central
> operator-leverman, noted central Illinois rail historian, and a mentor to
> several generations of railroaders and rail enthusiasts, died May 16 at
his
> home in Champaign, Ill.
>
> Born in Wooster, Ohio, Dick developed an early interest
in
> railroading, especially the Baltimore & Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroads.
He
> moved to central Illinois in 1938, attended the University of Illinois in
> Urbana-Champaign, and went to work for the IC as a towerman in 1940 after
> unsuccessfully seeking employment with the PRR. He retired in 1983 after
> 43-year carrer of unofficially tutoring dozens of rail enthusiasts-many of
> them U of I student-from his "classroom" in Champaign Tower.
>
> Jon Roma, with whom Stair published the
interlocking-tower
> newsletter "The Home Signal," says, "Dick was a walking textbook of
railroad
> history."
>
> During World War II, Stair served in a United States
Army
> railway operating battalion as a train dispatcher. He was stationed on the
> SNCF Nord Region near Paris as the Allied forces liberated France
following
> the D-Day invasion. He also did a tour of duty in the same capacity
helping
> to operate the railways of Korea during that war in the early 1950's.
>
> He was a founding member and past chairman of the board
of
> the nearby Monticello (Ill.) Railway Museum; a member and past president
of
> the National Association of Timetable Collectors; and a member of the
> Illinois Central Historical Society, the Douglas County Museum, and
several
> other railroad organizations. He was an avid collector of railroad
> memorabilia.
>
> Memorial contributions may be made to the Monticello
> Railway Museum or the Douglas County (Ill.) Museum.
>
> Got a tip for news wire editor Bill Stephens? Email him
at
> bstephens@t...
>
> 05/17/2001
>
>
>
>
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>
>
>
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