OMAHA, Neb. — Former Union Pacific spokesman Mark W. Davis, 69, died Oct. 28 following a brief bout with cancer.
Davis’s 34 year-career with Union Pacific is remembered as one of steady calm no matter what the adversity. Known mostly for being the media contact for the eastern part of the railroad, he could also be found at the site of accidents and derailments as a member of the railroad’s “Go Team.” Whenever possible, he could also be found as a part of the “Steam Team” for UP 4-8-4 No. 844 and 4-6-6-4 No. 3985. He also traveled with UP’s 1996 and 2002 Olympic trains.
Davis was born March 8, 1955, to James and Sara (Hulsewede) Davis in St. Louis, Mo. He earned his degree in Communications from Central Missouri State.
The hallmark of Davis’s career was being there but staying out of the limelight. Yet members of the media who worked with him knew he was an invaluable source of on-the-spot accurate information.
When the railroad was touting the deployment of genset technology in California, he was assigned to an open house to let the media get acquainted with the new locomotive. When reporters asked him his thoughts on the equipment, he astutely explained their use and refused to take a side. And he did it very well.
The same professional attitude was on display when he was one of the PR people assigned to help Trains Magazine complete a story on a single Union Pacific freight train traveling the system. Assignments included a PR man in the cab, and others traveling with staff and correspondents from the road. Davis got to stand outside in the middle of a raw Nebraska day with a correspondent reporting on a mechanized track crew. No shelter, no hot coffee, he escorted the writer with all the courtesy and aplomb of a visiting dignitary, running interference with crews that did not take kindly to the intruder. He was also one of the crew that shepherded the press when following the first movement of Big Boy No. 4014 from Pomona to Cheyenne in 2014.
Never one to sit still, upon retiring from Union Pacific in 2015, Mark found a new passion in metal work.
Mark is survived by his wife Eileen; daughters Lauren, Ashley (Josh Sherman) and Michelle (Patrick Storey); stepdaughters Kathleen (Aaron van Boer) and Emily; stepson Joshua (Chelsea Wade); sister Tina (Dale Reid); grandchildren Presley, Hendrix, Monroe, Carter, and Cooper.
A vigil service will be held Thursday, Nov. 21, at 5 p.m. at St. John Vianney Catholic Church, 5801 Oak Hills Dr., Omaha, Neb, immediately followed by a gathering of friends and family until 8 p.m.
