Category: Memorial Corner
Member fatally shot in shooting
Amtrak conductor and Local 1470 (Edmonston, Md.) member James E. Blue III, 43, was shot multiple times Jan. 25 outside a home he was in the process of remodeling while talking on a cellphone to his son, who is away at college. He was taken to an area hospital where he was pro [...]Local 1704 mourns death of vice chairperson Debria Bradford
Vice Chairperson Debria L. Bradford (GCA-STU), 56, a longtime officer of SMART Transportation Division Local 1704 (Kansas City, Mo.), passed away Jan. 26, 2022. “She served numerous positions in our local — sergeant of arms, trustee,” said General Chairperson Sharon Harris (G [...]Former VP Donald Carver passes away
Former Vice President Donald Carver, who led the United Transportation Union Yardmasters Department from 1987 until his retirement in 2003, passed away January 11, 2022, one day prior to his 79th birthday, his family announced. Brother Carver had a 41-year career on the railr [...]
GC Danny Young passes away unexpectedly
The SMART Transportation Division has been shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden passing of General Chairperson Danny Young (GO-017), a longtime leader in our union and member of Local 1081 (Glendale, Ariz.), on Dec. 31, 2021. Brother Young was born and raised in Winslo [...]
Former General Chairperson Jackie Pearson passes away
Jacqueline “Jackie” Y. Pearson, former general chairperson of GCA-STU and a former local chairperson for Local 1704 (Kansas City, Mo.), passed away Dec. 13, 2021, at the age of 55. Sister Pearson served more than four years in both of those officer positions as we [...]Member of Local 807 dies from COVID-19
Brother Tony Carbajal, a member of Local 807 (Tucson, Ariz.), passed away Oct. 27, 2021, from COVID-19 at the age of 51. He joined the union in 2004 and worked as a conductor for Union Pacific for more than 17 years. “Tony was well-liked and respected by his co-workers [...]GoFundMe set up for members’ devastated family
Local 904 (Evansville, Ind.) S&T Brian Hall reports that the local has opened a GoFundMe page to support CSX yardmaster and Local 1963 (Louisville, Ky.) member Jason P. Melton and his family after his 13-year-old son tragically took his own life on Sunday, Oct. 17. Melton [...]SMART-TD mourns another COVID-19 loss
Terri Poole Taylor Kerns, 52, of Local 1971 (Atlanta, Ga.) lost her life to COVID-19 on Friday, September 10. Diagnosed with COVID-19 on August 24, she was hospitalized Sunday, August 29 with severe chest pains. After suffering from cardiac arrest, she passed in the early hou [...]