Transit advocates everywhere were saddened to learn of the passing of Jack E. Schramm on February 24.
His passion for documenting the transit history of southeast Michigan was legendary. Jack leaves us with a large archive of historical material now managed by his son, Ken Schramm, and nearly a dozen historical reference publications.
Jack was truly one of those people who "had forgotten more about transit than I will ever know." He worked for the Detroit Street Railways (the forerunner of DDOT) over five decades. Jack was a co-founder of the Michigan Transit Museum in Mt. Clemens and was a strong supporter of TRU. He was honored for his lifetime achievement at a special 2004 TRU meeting, where he was presented with – what else – a piece of rail cut from a former DSR streetcar line.
Jack was our very own Transit Legend and he will be missed.