Archie
Care to tell us more about the Burlington aircraft?
Rupert Gamlen
Auckland NZ
Group,
A few days ago the Burlington
lost one of the oldest retired officials when Bob Richards passed away at the
age of 102. Bob lived here in Hannibal
and he retired in 1975 as Vice President of Purchasing and Materials. He
started working in 1935 and spent 40 plus years with the Burlington. Bob got his start in or
around Aurora
as a result of a recommendation from his Sunday School teacher GA Goerner who
was General Storekeeper on the system in the 1930s. Bob was raised in Aurora. Bob was a
walking encyclopedia of Burlington purchasing and kept wonderful records which
his daughter told me they were going to pass on to the BRHS. He was
involved in the sale of the Burlington
business cars as well as the purchase of the railroad's very first airplane.
Bob had previously donated his official's little black bible that every
official carried to our society and now we can help fill our new archives
storage area with this generous gift from his family.