It is with deep sorrow that I must report the death of Witold ("Bob") Rayunec, a long-time member of the Museum and a close personal friend for many years. From the Chicago Tribune:
Witold Stanley Rayunec,84, of Villa Park, Loving husband of the
late Barbara nee Koziol; Fond brother of the late Arthur (the late Mary)
Rayunec; Uncle of Kimberly (Joseph) Pyle; great-uncle of Brian (Nora) Pyle,
Adam (Julie) Pyle, and Sarah Pyle.
Visitation Tuesday, March 23rd, 2021 from 9AM until the time of funeral service
at 10:00 AM at Steuerle Chapel, 350 Ardmore Ave., Villa Park, IL 60181.
Memorials to the American Lung Association or the Illinois Railway Museum are
appreciated.
Bob worked on many projects for the Museum in the early days, but of course for me the most important was the CA&E 309, and without him I might never have started on it. His wife Barb also did a lot of work on the car, before her untimely death from cancer in 1983. Bob later took over direction of the line department for several years. He will certainly be greatly missed.
Gregg Wolfersheim writes: Very sad to hear about Bob. He was the first person I worked with at IRM, back in July 1969, on the line car 604, of course! We planted several poles, then put up some cross spans on station 1 near today's electric junction. Then hung trolley wire to connect the new track with East Switch. Thus ending the stub trackage of the station area with the mainline via West Switch.
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