Tom Biery – President of WMNHR

From Cumberland Times News – Sep 14, 2023

LAVALE [mdash] Thomas A. Biery, 74, of LaVale, passed away Sept. 13, 2023. He was born in Northampton, Pa., on Sept. 24, 1948.
Mr. Biery was the son of Paul L. Biery and Susan Kovach Biery, of Northampton, Pa.
He is survived by Mary McCullough Biery, his wife of 52 years.
He was a graduate of Northampton High School, Class of 1966. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Logistics from The Pennsylvania State University in 1970. then he served in the US Army Reserve from 1970 to 1976. Tom worked as an executive at Kelly Springfield Tire Company. He had held various positions there on his way to the executive position. He worked there for over 18 years. He was also an independent insurance agent for The National Association of Self-Employed (NASE).
Tom had a lifelong interest in railroad photography, beginning at age 10. He started using a Brownie instamatic camera. He was one of the five founding members of the Western Maryland Chapter of Railroad Historical Society. This chapter, under his Presidency, opened the Cumberland Railroad Museum at Canal Place, in Cumberland. His photographs were published in Trains Magazine, The Railroad Press, and Transport Topics, as well as in books authored by others.
Tom was the author of three books – Alco’s to Allentown, Chessie System, and Altoona Action. He was referred to as “The Dean of Eastern Railroad Photography” by another railfan. He researched the genealogy of the Biery family (who immigrated to this country in 1735) and the Kovach family (who immigrated to this country through Ellis Island in approximately 1900). His genealogical research went as far back as the 1500’s, when the Protestant Reformation resulted in the destruction of churches, thereby destroying church records.
He loved to travel. Tom and Mary had many trips to Europe, the Caribbean, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, and throughout the United States.
Tom is also survived by a son, John Paul Biery, of Knob Noster, Mo.; a daughter, Susan Marie Wolfe and her husband, Adam Wolfe, of Crofton; four grandchildren, Abigail Wolfe, Sean Biery, Madeleine Wolfe and Seth Biery; one brother, Paul W. Biery, of Columbia, S.C.; and two sisters, Lois M. Kulp, of York, Pa., and Helen Ziatyk, of Northampton, Pa.
Friends will be received at the Scarpelli Funeral Home, P.A., 15205 McMullen Hwy. SW, Cresaptown, on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the Shrine of Saints Peter and Paul by the Reverend Brian Frain S. J., cousin of the widow, on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, at 1 p.m.
Interment will be at Fairview Cemetery, Northampton, Pa., on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, at 1 p.m.
Condolences may be left at: http://www.ScarpelliFH.com.