Category: Memorial Corner
TD Local 446 mourns loss of member who died while on the job
SMART-TD Local 446 (Cheyenne, Wyo.) mourns the loss of Ryan Jones, 33, who died of a cardiac event while on the job July 28. A conductor and local trustee (2018 – 2020), Jones loved working for Union Pacific. According to his obituary, “Ryan was determined to follow his life [...]Local 1420 mourns death of Local Chairperson Kevin Spragg
Robert Kevin Spragg, 59, passed away Monday, June 20, 2022. An active member of Local 1420 (Memphis, Tenn.) since August 1998, Spragg served as the local chairperson for LCA-001A (BNSF) since 2012 and as a delegate at the 2014 and 2019 conventions. He was a dedicated union ma [...]Former VP Robert Earley passes away
Former Vice President Robert “Bob” W. Earley, who served our union’s membership for decades, died June 7, 2022, at Jones Memorial Hospital in Wellsville, N.Y., after a short illness. Brother Earley, a member of Local 610 (Baltimore, Md.), began his railroad career in 1963 sta [...]
A Memorial Day message from TD President Ferguson
Brothers and Sisters, Today we reflect on and honor the sacrifices made by all the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces. Without their protection, we would not be the country we are today, nor would we enjoy the freedoms that we do. As a veteran of [...]SMART-TD mourns the loss of Local 1374 conductor Erik O’Brien
Local 1374 (New Castle, Pa.) conductor Erik D. O’Brien, 44, lost his life Saturday, May 21, 2022, when his car hit the back of a semi-truck on his way home from work around 4 p.m. A 1996 graduate of Marlington High School in Alliance, Ohio, Brother O’Brien was a member of the [...]Longtime Mo. SLD passes away
William “Larry” Foster, a SMART Transportation Division Alumni Association member and retiree from Local 226 (Moberly, Mo.) who proudly served our union as Missouri’s state legislative director for the better part of two decades, passed away May 4 at his home. He was 80. Fost [...]
Local 202 member dies in yard accident
SMART Transportation Division member Jeff Jones of Local 202 (Denver, Colo.) passed away on Feb. 9, 2022, after a switching accident in Globeville rail yard in Denver. Brother Jones, of Northglenn, Colo., was a member of our union for more than a decade, joining in August 201 [...]Local 1715 bus operator killed by gunfire while in service in Charlotte, N.C.
A member of Local 1715 (Charlotte, N.C.) lost his life over the weekend in a senseless act of gun violence after he was shot Friday while operating his bus in Charlotte, N.C. Ethan Rivera, 41, a member of our union since May 2021, died Saturday while being treated at a Charlo [...]