Remembering Owen Sturm "paulinskill"

Very nice photo. Is that where he got his forum handle?

I miss him. He was a great asset to the forum, and always a lot of fun when we had forum get togethers. He was also a great asset to the hobby, as he was always willing to talk to new guys, and welcome them into the hobby.

I think of him every time I run my RMT WP boxcar marked up for him.

Owen was the first person i ever met on from the forum he walked right up to me an introduced himself, he didn't care what part of the hobby you were in either, a great guy.

Like CarGuy every time i see WP i think of him.

Dave

Mike,

I asked Owen about his handle and he said that it was after the creek that ran behind his vacation home.

Never met Owen, only knew of him through his contributions on the forum.  Seems to have been a terrific guy by all accounts; I certainly enjoyed reading his contributions.

If I recall correctly, he passed away as a result of injuries sustained from a tree that fell on him while he was cutting it down at his home, correct?

Yes, a strong reminder of safety when working outdoors

Owen was one of the Greats in this hobby. it has been a couple of years, I still miss him

Never met Owen but only knew him from here. Nice guy!!!!

I had a similar experience.  The first time I was able to attend the Thursdays at Fridays gathering at York, he came up to me and introduced himself and then after a short chat, he then began introducing me to everyone else.  He was a great guy all around, and was a great ambassador for the hobby.

Andy

Owen is both easily remembered and not easily forgotten.. If you met Owen, you couldn't help but like him. His face always exuded a special brightness and optimism in his demeanor and about this hobby. Every York, his warm greeting, big smile, firm handshake, the hug for my wife Paula and the regular laughs he shared always elevated our spirits. Fall York is still enjoyable for us, but we really miss the friendship of this kind and decent man.  

I too miss Owen. A truly genuine person he was. He was the one that finally got me to join the TCA and go to York. Thanks friend.

I had the pleasure of meeting Owen on a few occasions while attending York.  A true "train guy" and class act.  Well worth remembering here on this forum. 

Great pictures - thanks - I too miss him very much.... he spent part of his life in Peoria - may have attended Bradley, I have forgotten, but I taught there and we used to talk about Peoria and all of the railroads that ran through there..... I am confident I will catch up with him on the other side.....

Owen was one of the best. I think of him at York and Trainstock.

a short video of Trainstock 2012 with a toast made to Owen 

John S,

Wonderful picture of Owen.  So that's where his image on the cake came from, I wondered about that.

I knew Owen for a lot of years in New Jersey before he joined the Forum, and it was a pleasant experience to meet and see him again as a hobbyist and Forumite. My big regret was not going over to see the layout he was building in his New Jersey retirement home.  

Owen was a humble person in the best sense of the word and a great guy. It seemed he wished only good things for everyone he met in our hobby.

He has been missed.

Ed Boyle

I never met Owen but he talked me through a couple of projects.  From the first email to the karst he felt like a great friend.  He was a nice guy

Marty

I was going through some photos recently and came across a similar shot of Owen and got all choked up. He was just an incredibly nice guy, always with that smile that made me wonder what he was up to. Only knew him for a few years from twice a year York Meets and I never saw him mad, sad, or anything but joyful.  Yeah, I miss him too. 

I never met him in person, but what I heard from fellow forum member's is he was one one the best.!!!!!!!

Alex

He was a great person and a real ambassador to this hobby. My first time at York, he came up to the wife and I and introduced himself. Every time we went to York we always saw him and he introduced me to many of the forum members here. He and his wife came thru Missouri on a vacation once and they stopped by to see my layout and run trains.

Truly a great man. RIP

Owen was the best!

I usually do not wear suspenders but I got them in his honor for Trainstock. The other day I wore them while snow plowing and soon as I put them on I thought of Owen.

It was truely a pleasure and honor to have breakfast with him at so many of the Allentown meets.

Here you go John.

Thanks Steve.

Owen was a wonderful person and a good friend. Always had a smile and a kind word, always happy and excited about the hobby, always positive. I first met him at the Allentown breakfast gathering and was always bumping into him at York. No matter how many times our paths would cross in the various halls he would always smile and chat even if we had just done just that a short time ago. "Hey did you see that? It looked super. Guess what I just saw?" I was talking with.........and so it went. Even now , the last few York meets knowing Owen is no longer with us I still find myself turning a corner in the halls and even for just a fleeting moment expecting to see him, hand outstretched smiling.

Sincerely

Frank               

What happened to the original bridge? 

Owen was one of the truly nice guys in this hobby. I knew him for years. He and Locolawyer were over to my house to play with trains only a few weeks before he died. It was a pleasure to have known him. Too often we don't appreciate some of the really nice people. And there are a lot of them in this hobby.

Gerry

Yes, a month after a big ice storm he was cutting down a fallen tree and it injured him. I think it was a artery in his leg that it cut

Owen was a great guy, a real loss to the community

I talked to Owen on the phone and through this forum, he really was a nice guy.

It is still there

Here is a link to some information about it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulinskill_Viaduct

Enjoy

Frank

This is a great post and Owen was a great guy who I still sorely miss!  When I was new to the hobby he went out of his way to reach out and help me with a problem I was having with my layout.  I always enjoyed meeting up with him at the Allentown shows, York and Trainstock. A true gentlemen if there ever was one!

--Greg

This is the Owen Sturm Memorial Viaduct dedicated at the NJHR Layout

I also had a similar experience. Owen was a heck of a great guy. We talked at both York and the NJ Hi-Railers. He was very easy to talk to. He had an outgoing personality that just allowed you to relax and enjoy the conversation. I miss him too. I met his wife at the funeral. She was very gracious. I sincerely hope she is doing well.

Just a short comment from Mary Sturm. My wife Pat and I are friends

of the family. She is well aware of your warm comments about Owen.

--and I had emailed this link/thread to her.

quote "

Owen was a true ambassador for our hobby. He had such an infectious smile and always a kind word for all he met. At York or the Forum gathering at Fridays, Owen was eager to shake your hand. I also enjoyed talking to him on the phone about the construction of his new layout.

It is a real tribute to him that so many on the Forum have taken the time to pay tribute to such a fine man. I am glad to know that his wife is aware of how much we all miss him.

I had the pleasure of meeting Owen at York.  Soon thereafter I had met Paul Breuninger in Red Bank New Jersey who was taking down his layout from his basement that was all done but the scenery.  I had bought the turntable and roundhouse from him (The roundhouse now sits on Trevize's layout) Paul had to remove the layout, but it was built to conform to his basement.  He wanted $700 for a really decent sized well built layout. Well Owen Bit and grabbed it.  
In comes Owen, with a reciprocating saw and a strong back and proceeded to slice up the layout and take it out of Paul's basement.  It eventually formed the foundation for his layout in the room he built above his garage.  I will always regret not being able to see the final project but I will always fondly remember being a small part of the process.