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As you enter the Marilyn Jo Fagan Reading
Room, you may be asking: Who is Marilyn Jo Fagan and why the
Galesburg Railroad Museum's Reading Room is named in her honor. To
tell the story of Marilyn, we have to go back to the time when we
did not know her.
In the fall of 2000, a local attorney had
advised the President of the Board of Directors that he had a client
looking for a place to put some funds, as the party had a terminal
illness. The attorney was contacting other non-profit organizations
as well. Our President wrote a letter stating how much a new
building for the Museum would mean, not only to the Museum, but to
the people of Galesburg, as railroading is so much a part of the
city's past, present and future.
We didn't hear anything for
almost 3 years when the 'godfather' we were thinking of actually
turned out to be a 'godmother', and her name was Marilyn Jo Fagan.
The Pullman Car - Meath (across the street) was no longer big enough
to display all the donated railroad memorabilia the Board desired
visitors to see.
In May of 2000, the Board began selling
granite engraved bricks to be placed in a Commemorative Walk in
order to raise funds to build a new Museum building. After three and
a half years of selling bricks, $90,000 was raised; however, this
was far short of the money needed to build a new museum building.
This is where Marilyn Jo Fagan came into place.
Marilyn Jo
Fagan was born and raised in Galesburg, Illinois. She was the only
child of a C.B. & Q conductor, Joseph L. Fagan, and had other
relatives who also worked for the C.B. & Q. here in Galesburg.
She graduated with the Class of '49 and moved to the Eastern part of
the United States. Marilyn did, however, return to Galesburg to
assist her ailing mother at the Fagan Family home. Marilyn worked
her adult life in hotel management for the Conrad Hilton hotel chain
and the last 2 years of work was with the Palmer House Hotel in
downtown Chicago.
Marilyn always knew the importance of
railroading to her family, as well as to the city of Galesburg. She
wanted the importance of this history to be expanded, so in her will
she left $150,000 toward the building of a new museum. In addition
to the money, Marilyn designated one half of the selling price of
the Fagan Family home to be set up as an endowment for the Galesburg
Railroad museum. The funds from the endowment would help pay for the
expense and maintenance in running a non-profit organization.
Marilyn had a special friend, John Gee, from Pittsburgh, PA,
and in her honor was here for the groundbreaking for the
construction of the new building and then again when the Museum was
dedicated on December 7, 2004. He was excited to attend and said
that Marilyn Jo would have been very pleased with the
results.
Marilyn Jo Fagan was a most generous woman and in
addition to our bequest; she had left money for a local church and a
day care center. We know she was a beautiful woman from the picture
in our Reading Room, but she was beautiful inside, too, and the
Galesburg Railroad Museum, as well as the city of Galesburg, will be
forever grateful for what she has done.
These words can only start to say how much we, The Board
of Directors of the Galesburg Railroad Museum, are deeply
appreciative of the generosity of such a wonderful woman.
Thank you Marilyn Jo. |
