Trending
Larry McKee of Altoona, a railroad history, photography, movie and circus aficionado who died last month at 83, was an only child who never married and never had children.
But it isn't true that McKee was without family, according to Joe DeFrancesco, executive director of the Altoona Railroaders Museum.
McKee had lots of friends, especially a group of like-minded individuals who loved trains and worked to give birth to and incubate the city's rail museum over many decades -- including his buddy Dave Seidel, who shared McKee's love of photography, and who told DeFrancesco, "Friends are the family you choose."
Seidel, who died in 2022 at age 84, and McKee had a bantering relationship, according to DeFrancesco.
They would "jab and joke with each other" over photographic media: Seidel having embraced digital photography, McKee having clung to his Kodak film, DeFrancesco said.
"They had colorful exchanges," he said. "(Though) nothing inappropriate."
Seidel's position was "in keeping with the times," while McKee's was an embrace "of the past," he said.
The pair, along with DeFrancesco, were part of a group of rail fans that included Frank Givler, Dick Charlesworth, Joe Harella, Mark Yingling, Ron Givler, Bill Temple, Dan Moringiello, Denny Walls and Andy Mulhollen, DeFrancesco said.
DeFrancesco, now 36, was the youngest, joining the others when he was 15, which means he knew them more than half his life.
"It was a privilege and an honor," he said. "To have been taken under their wing and mentored by them."
The others had already been at it a long time, bonding over local history, generating the momentum that ultimately led to the local museum when they formed the Horseshoe Curve Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1968, after Altoona lost to Strasburg in an effort to land the state railroad museum, according to DeFrancesco.
They subsequently worked with the local tourism bureau to form the nonprofit that acquired ground near what is now the Station Medical Center, starting the museum itself in 1980 in a building not far from the Pennsylvania Railroad Master Mechanics building, which has housed the museum since 1998, according to DeFrancesco and the museum website.
After DeFrancesco joined during the first decade of this century, they would meet on Saturdays and Mondays to work on rail cars, rail-adjacent vehicles or rail equipment in connection with the museum, with meals to complement those sessions at Tom and Joe's or Nicoletta's, DeFrancesco said.
They also worked together to organize local rail excursions, including an annual Santa Claus train, DeFrancesco said.
"Average Joes doing the legwork to make something happen that wouldn't have happened otherwise," he said. "They were, in a way, angels among us."
DeFrancesco was wistful.
"It's been many years since everyone was healthy and together," he said, noting that McKee's health had declined during the last decade of his life. "Sadly, time and age catches up with us."
The "gang" remains an inspiration for museum leaders today, according to DeFrancesco. "What they worked so hard for, to keep it alive," he said.
McKee was a gifted photographer, according to Dan Cupper, former Norfolk Southern engineer, rail historian and rail periodical editor.
"He made sure the pictures were clean," Cupper said.
In some cases, that meant literally -- taking care not to show "litter in the corner," Cupper said.
McKee's photos were "well-composed, with the proper lighting," and with good color balance and range, Cupper said.
McKee aspired to create a movie -- an aspiration that didn't come to fruition, DeFrancesco said.
He had written a script for a medical comedy, based on his work as an X-ray technician at Conemaugh Nason Medical Center, DeFrancesco said.
It was "a later-in-life pet project," DeFrancesco said.
He submitted the script and was always hopeful, DeFrancesco said.
"He kept working at it," DeFrancesco said. "Unfortunately, he ran out of time."
He did, however, land a bit part as a Federal Railroad Administration official in the movie "Unstoppable," a brief part in a scene set in Tyrone, according to DeFrancesco and an obituary submitted to the Mirror.
McKee's interest in the circus took him often to Vail in northern Blair County, site of the wreck of the Walter L. Main Circus Train in 1893, according to Charlesworth, who first came to know him in the 1950s, as fellow youthful members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Altoona.
McKee dedicated 36 years to working at Conemaugh Nason Medical Center.
"Larry was just an all-around good guy to work with -- dependable, helpful and super friendly," said Stephanie Partner, manager of the hospital's Radiology Department.
He was always willing to help, had a "great smile" and made people "feel supported and appreciated," Partner said.
"Patients just loved him," Partner added.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.