The railroad was in
my blood before I ever knew it! My father Joseph worked for the Pennsylvania
Railroad in Cresson, Pennsylvania in 1943 before being inducted into the army
in December 1943. My mother also had a
brother Stanley who worked for the same railroad which later turned into Penn
Central which I believe was the railroad he retired from.
I met my husband
Pat when I was 4 years old as he was my "big" brothers buddy, but as
we all know little sisters are a pain! Little
did I know that 34 years later I would accept his proposal and marry him. Pat has worked for Penn Central which turned
into Conrail which was split up into CSX and Norfolk Southern of which he now
works for Norfolk Southern. He has 38 years with the railroads and comes from a
family that has many uncles and cousins that work for the railroad. Pat is also very involved with the union. He was a General Chairman when he was with
Conrail and is now the Local Chairman for Division 607 in Cleveland. He is and
was a delegate at the convention in 2006.
Little did I know
when we were married in 1994 that railroad life was like being a widow. Here I was with 2 step children Lindsey and
Philip while Pat spent half of our life on the road going to Buffalo at 2:00
am. The 2 hour calls were bad enough but
do they have to be at midnight, 2 am, 4 am when most sane people are sound
asleep and get up to work 8 to 5. It
took a bit of getting used to, especially the holidays when they were planned
and your husband got called to work at 4 in the morning and you had to go through
Christmas alone! Almost like being
single again!
I became involved
with the GIA when Sereena Hogan our National 1st Vice President had asked me to
join in on the meeting with the ladies. I
did and here I am! I became a MAL member
in 2002 and was elected the Eastern delegate for the convention in 2006. After attending the meetings and yes we do
work hard at them, I was nominated to run for National Chaplain and was elected
by the delegates. What a surprise to me. I hope that I can fill the shoes of Mary Anna
Mullins, as she did a good job as our chaplain for a number of years. I have a lot to learn but will never have to
learn the spiritual side of they job because it is a second nature to me. I have met many, many wonderful ladies through
the meetings and I love everyone of you! Thanks!