November, 1949 - Milwaukee Road Archive

Congratulations to John F. Altenhem,
,lieutenant of police on the D&I Division
whh headquarters at Savanna, on his appointment
to captain of police on the L&R
Division with headquarters at LaCrosse, effective
Nov. 1. .Also, to Roundhouse Foreman
W. B. Gage, Savanna, on his appoint·
ment as assistant master mechanic with
headquarters at LaCrosse, effective Sept. 1.
Mr. Gage was succeeded at Savanna by
Walter J. Weingart, Marquette. Walter has
since left us for Milwaukee and K. S. Casey
has been appointed roundhouse foreman at
Savanna.
On Oct. 15 in St. John's Catholic Church
at Savanna occurred the marriage of Miss
Anna Jensen and Conductor William M.
Keenan, Savanna. They were attended by
Miss Catherine Morrissey of Savanna and
Engineer Patrick J. Freeley of Franklin
Park, Ill. After a wedding trip to the
Ozarks, the couple will live in Elgin, as Bill
is a conductor on a suburban train operating
out of Elgin.
Jeanne A. Thompson, only daughter of
Machinist and Mrs. Neils Thompson, Sa·
vanna, became the bride of Lester L. Thu·
lion in a ceremony in the Community
Church in Savanna on Oct. 28.
Brakeman and Mrs. Edward Speck, Sa·
vanna, welcomed their second baby -daugh.
ter, Melody Lynn, on Oct. 20.
During October the telegraph keys were
stilled for two members of our organization.
The sudden death of Chief Dispatcher H. J.
Thayer, of the D&I Division at Savanna, was
a great shock to his friends and associates.
Mr. Thayer was taken ill on Oct. 24, removed
to the hospital in the afternoon and passed
away the next day. Services were held in
Savanna, with burial and Masonic services
in Valhalla Cemetery, Milwaukee. Surviving
are his widow; two sons, Fireman H. J.
Thayer, Jr., and Keith; two daughters, Mrs.
J. D. Mottlow (Mary Jane) and Mrs. Arthur
Anderson (Barbara) ; two grandchildren and
two sisters. l\fr. Thayer started in railroad
service as telegraph operator with the Soo
Line. On Aug. 17, 1917, he transferred to
the Milwaukee in the saUle capacity and for
10 or 12 years was an operator at 1\orth
Milwaukee, being promoted to a dispatcher
on Oct. 2, 1938. He came to the D&I at
Savanna as chief dispatcher in May, 1942.
lra Seeger, operator at Sabula bridge for
Ulany years, passed away on Oct. 22 in the
Savanna City Hospital where he had been
a patient for two weeks. Burial was in
Evergreen Cemetery, Sabula. Surviving are
his widow, four daughters and one son.
Dan Kennedy, retired switchman, Savanna,
passed away on Oct. 18 in his cottage at
Riverview following a heart seizure. Mr.
Kennedy began working with the Milwaukee
on Dec. 31, 1916, as a yard brakeman and
retired in 1938. He is survived by a son,
Switchman James Kennedy, Sr., of Savanna.
Conductor E. Gongaware, an old timer on
the second district, passed away in Wash·
ington i\Iills, la., on Oct. I, at the age of 70.
Conductor Gongaware entered railroad ser·
vice as a brakeman in December, 1898, and
was promoted to conductor in December,
1904. He worked on the Cascade, Waukon
and Preston branch lines for many
years, coming down to the main line of the
Dubuque Division. Up to the time of his
illness he had been conductor on Nos. 35
and 38 operating between Savanna and La
Crosse.
Second District Conductor W. S. Hartley
underwent an operation at Finley Hospital
in Dubuque on Oct. 19.
John T. Daley, 84, retired car department
employe at Savanna, passed away in the
city hospital on Sept. 30, following an illness
of two weeks. Surviving are three sons
and two daughters.
A Family Affair
Thomas C. Hoslield. Ira G. Graham and
Paul J. Graham (left to right).
DURII'IG the past season three generations
of Milwaukee Road men were all on
the job as extra gang timekeepers. The
senior member of this unusual setup was Ira
G. Graham of Chillicothe, Mo., a second
generation :\Iilwaukee Road man who has
nearly 40 years of railroad service. The
second member was his son Paul J., also of
Chillicothe, who has eight years of service,
and rounding out the trio was grandson
ThomasC. Hosfield, Neosho, Mo., who
started with the Road last spring. Paul is
an Army Air Corps veteran.
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