A World War II USMC veteran passes. I didn't know the man, but his obituary makes him sound like he would have been at home here. You can tell he was a life-long railfan. Warner K. Masters, beloved husband, father and grandfather, died Thursday, April 10, 2008, at the Colorado State Veterans Nursing Home in Rifle, due to complications from a long illness. He was 87. Masters, most recently a private financial manager, worked for 30 years for California State University-Northridge as the director of campus planning and financial vice president. He was instrumental in developing the campus from a trailer in a pumpkin patch into a major urban university with a robust endowment. Masters was a member of the Rotary Club in Northridge and in Colorado in Durango. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence on Yap in the Caroline Islands during World War II. He was also a member of the Sedona 30 community service organization. Born Dec. 28, 1920, in Kansas City, Mo., Masters grew up in Dallas and San Antonio, where he became enamored of railroading and exploring the Hill Country. After high school, he picked fruit and vegetables in the Pacific Northwest. Masters was attending the University of Southern California on a wrestling scholarship when he joined the Marines in 1942. After the war, Masters returned to USC, washing dishes in the Pi Beta Phi sorority to complement the GI Bill. Graduating in 1949 with a degree in business administration, he credited USC and the Marine Corps for “saving my life.” For the rest of that productive life, Masters’ autumn Saturdays were devoted to yard work and Trojan football. He relished the details of architectural and landscape design, incorporating his own ideas into all of his homes. Masters and his wife of 59 years, Janet, most recently resided in Carbondale, after living in Durango, Sedona, Ariz., and Westlake and Tarzana, Calif. He also designed and built a vacation home in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. Masters loved railroads, and traveled by train whenever possible. He built extensive O-Gauge model railroad layouts, collected a large technical railroad library, and could identify different steam engines by their sound. He was most at home in the mountains, especially the eastern High Sierra, where he enjoyed skiing, backpacking and lake fishing. Besides his wife, Masters is survived by his children: Linda Bolt and her husband, Tom, of Nederland, William and his wife, Jill, of Telluride, and John and his wife, Maura, of Carbondale; and by nine grandchildren: Spencer and Galen Keep and TJ Bolt, Brooke, Paige, Bailey Mallette and Lane Masters, and Catherine and Will Masters. His loyal golden retrievers, MacDuff and Norman Clyde, also survive him. A private family service will be held. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that contributions in his memory may be made to the Warner K. Masters Endowment at California State University, Northridge: The CSUN Foundation, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330-8296. Thank you for your service, sir. Highball, and may all your signals be green.
Right now, his name doesn't seem familiar. Has any of his railroad modeling been published in a magazine? So we could look? Boxcab E50
The whole time I lived in Grand Junction, I never heard of the guy. Too bad- I missed a golden opportunity to talk trains with this fellow. My loss. Condolences to his family, and thanks for his service in WWII (Sez this stepson of a WII Army Air Corps bomber pilot).
Checking the Pit A quick Google search didn't turn up much, :tb-nerd: but obviously, that's only online. I'll put up a post on the Inspection Pit to see if any of the Model guys recognize him.
