obit: Phyllis Pangburn - NYC Dispatcher

From the Indy Star Obits:
Pangburn, Phyllis June Vohland - July 22, 2005
Phyllis June Vohland Pangburn 79, Indianapolis, passed away July 21, 2005. She was born July 30, 1925 in Clarksburg, IN. After graduating from Clarksburg High School in 1944, Phyllis enrolled in war workers training by New York Central Railroad, where she studied telegraphy and accounting. In 1948, she became the first woman dispatcher in the nation, credited by the New York Central System. She retired from the Railroad in July 1983 after 38 years of service as an operator in Indiana, on the Michigan and Chicago Divisions, and as a dispatcher in Indianapolis. Phyllis was a member of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers, Railroad Business Women's Association, The American Train Dispatchers' Association, New York Central System Historical Society, and the Order of the Eastern Star #47 in Greensburg, IN. Phyllis married Clarence Dewey Pangburn in 1951, and he preceded her in death in 1967.

Thanks ROGER,,,She was certainly .."ONE OF A KIND!.." Larry Baggerly

For more info on Phyllis, see 'A Woman named Phyllis' at http://madisonrails.railfan.net/lewman23_phyllis.html

There was a lengthy article on Phyllis in the January 1952 issue of RAILROAD Magazine. It was written by Pete Josserand, a well-known dispatcher himself. Back then a woman doing any sort of "man's work" was quite unusual.

Another issue of the same magazine from 10 years earlier had a 2-page photo article about a 20-year old redhead who got a tour of her father's NYC steam engine. A few quotes - "Firing's a man-sized job." "I could hardly lift the shovel"

With prevailing wisdom of that nature, Phyllis was indeed a trailblazer. And NYC, even then, was "The Road To The Future", LOL.