From left: Matt Kronyak, BLET Special Rep; Brad Cleary, Amtrak GCA S-T; Gerhard Williams (back row), Amtrak VP; Gabriel Perez, Amtrak GCA VGC; J.J. O’Neill, Amtrak GCA ERC; Kate Kenny; Stephen Gardner (back row), Amtrak CEO; David Estes, BLET NST; Jim Louis, BLET VP; Vince Verna, BLET VP & NLR; Pat Darcy, Amtrak GC; and Andrea Gansen, Amtrak VP of LR.
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Amtrak dedicated a locomotive in honor of the late BLET General Chairman Mark B. Kenny at a ceremony held on March 14 in Philadelphia. Kenny passed away in late 2024 after a railroad career that spanned over 40 years, including 26 as the head of BLET’s Amtrak General Committee of Adjustment (GCA). Kenny was inspired to become involved in the union movement after he was nearly killed in a train accident in 1998.
Numerous members of the Kenny family were in attendance, including Brother Kenny’s widow, Kate, and his children and grandchildren. Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner presided over the ceremony. Several BLET members and officers were in attendance, including Amtrak General Chairman Pat Darcy, Vice President Jim Louis, Vice President & National Legislative Representative Vince Verna, and BLET National Secretary-Treasurer David Estes, who spent most of his career as an Amtrak engineer and worked closely with Mark in his prior position as Secretary-Treasurer of the Amtrak GCA.