The BLET National Division extends deepest condolences to the family of retired BLET General Chairman Jack McDermott, who passed away on August 11 at the age of 106.
McDermott hired out with the Union Pacific in 1941 as a fireman, and was one of the last locomotive engineers qualified to operate steam locomotives on the Utah-Idaho Seniority District. He was a World War II veteran, operating steam locomotives for the U.S. Army as part of the 746th Railway Battalion in the European Theater.
A member of Division 228 in Pocatello, Idaho, McDermott served as General Chairman of the BLET’s Union Pacific-Utah/Idaho Seniority District General Committee of Adjustment (predecessor of today’s UP-Western Region GCA) from 1975 until his retirement in 1982. Many of the agreements he negotiated as General Chairman are the basis of contracts still in effect today.
McDermott was featured on the BLET website earlier this year when family members celebrated his 106th birthday.
The family plans a funeral mass at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Pocatello, Idaho, on Saturday, September 5.