CENTRAL ELECTRIC RAILFANS' ASSOCIATION
Upcoming Programs
- Friday, August 9, 2024, 7:00 PM CT Harvey Laner's Midwest Traction Review; Friday, September 11, 2024, 7:00 PM CT; Friday, September 27, 2024 In Person and on Zoom, 7:00 PM
IN MEMORIAM: Paul Willer: From his daughter, Dianne Willer-Sly I want to share with CERA members that my father, Paul Willer, 91 years old, died peacefully on July 7th, 2025 in Oakdale, Minnesota at his apartment there. He was a very long time CERA member. I remember attending meetings with him when I was 12 years old and I am now in my 60s! His health prevented him from attending meetings in person the last number of years. I would often connect my laptop to the TV in his assisted living room so that he could watch many of the online presentations. Paul was born and resided in Ft Wayne, Indiana until 1972. He then moved to Sodus, Michigan. That put him closer to the South Shore line that he enjoyed “chasing”. He was a big fan of old Indiana interurban lines and would explore abandoned right of ways with his buddies. His favorite type of rail cars were trolley cars. He was often referred to as “Trolley Paul”. Paul moved to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in 2022 to be closer to family. My favorite memory was a trip we took together in 2010 to Portland Oregon and San Francisco to ride street cars and cable cars. We traveled on Amtrak there and back from Chicago. Paul will be cremated and buried at Lindenwood Cemetary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We are asking that any memorial donations, be given to CERA. Memorial services are pending. See Simple Traditions by Bradshaw funeral home for details in a week or so. https://www.simpletraditions.com/obituaries Please share the above information with your members. Dianne Willer-Sly |
What's new at CERA?
| RENEW NOW 2025 Click above RENEW NOW to go to Membership Renewal Site
JOIN OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP TODAY https://cera-chicago.org/sys/website/?pageId=7743 Renew at above link Since 1938, Central Electric Railfans’ Association has presented programs, published books, and hosted fan trips. In 2024 CERA continued its successful online programs on Zoom, offering both “open-to-all” Zoom programs and programs marketed exclusively to members and prospective members. We also returned to our in-person programming at a new location and hosted a fan trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We very proudly edited, published and produced the critically received Transit in the Triangle, Volume 2 which was mailed to all of our 2019 Members. Our goal now is to get out two books in the next 16 months to 2020 and 2021 members!! We plan on making 2025 even better. Look forward to new things on Zoom and in our in-person programming, news on upcoming CERA-penned books and other featured products in our store and special deals on older titles in our inventory. Please consider contributing to these efforts by renewing your membership, or becoming a new member. You can pay for your membership by check or credit card and online via our web site: www.cera-chicago.org/join. We accept PayPal. CERA 2025 members will receive a hardbound book on an electric railway subject as a membership benefit. You can count on our publications to continue a long tradition of excellence in historical and contemporary electric railway research, while also being both informative and entertaining. |
