Remembering William H. “Billy” (Box Car) Cummings, Jr.

“I am going to talk to you, you are going to listen.” This from a man who was loud and direct with a smile, but always with a “grip” of friendship.

Yet, this man, who grew up on the west side of Pittsfield and used to go to the Hobby Shop, where Pittsfield Central Fire Station stands today, to buy models to glue together.

“I am a first class citizen, you are a second class citizen!”

No matter how you took William H. “Box Car” Cummings, Jr., he was a classy guy, who just wanted to be acknowledged in friendship.

“He was from John Street and we, as kids, hung out at the old hobby shop buying models,” former Pittsfield Police Chief Gerald Lee recalled this week.

“He was a good guy. I am sad to acknowledge his passing. I remember him as a strong man, who probably could do a day’s work of two. Years later he had cancer, but he beat it,” Mr. Lee said.

Whether it was in the Lakewood section of Pittsfield or in recent years, when he lived at 55 East Housatonic St., he was a “known character of the first order,” be it at Del Gallo’s, the Eastside or the Madison.

His old friends referred to him as “Billy.” It was the railroad moniker that got him the name: Box Car.

Mr. Cummings, 69, died Saturday at Berkshire Medical Center after suffering an apparent heart attack while driving his vehicle along Elm Street.

Mr. Cummings always had his hand out to shake in acknowledgement of friendship. He had a large hand, and it was held together with a wealth of power to go with his voice of recognition.

Paul Capitanio referred to Mr. Cummings as a “legend” and as a personal friend.

I met Mr. Cummings at the Eastside many years ago on a Friday night, where a gang of men would gather weekly to discuss life, politics and the changes in Berkshire County. It occurred during one conversation and rounds of beer that Mr. Cummings, a.k.a. Box Car arrived.

To be greeted by the Con Rail (CSX) foreman for the Northeast – acknowledgment was a note of acceptance by Mr. Cummings and applauded by the group at the bar. He was universally thought of as a friend and a good guy.

I think some were either afraid of him or mystified by his robust character and his voice, which might scare the pants off one.

The name Box Car was a tag (nickname) he got years back while working for the railroad, noting he would sleep in a caboose.

Why not caboose?

Perhaps it was his large frame that caught fellow workers by surprise, finding him asleep in a box car where he could stretch out.

“How does one say goodbye to a friend who died unexpectedly?” asked Chief Lee.

“I played in golf tournaments with Billy and noted that he was well read. Yes. Profane in a sense, but he could be as sweet as one could be… He was a nice guy who liked the champagne of bottled beers:  Miller!”

A lifelong resident, he was born on Feb. 10, 1943, the son of the late Florence (McManus) Cummings, and was a 1961 graduate of St. Joseph Central High School.

A Navy veteran, he was a Radioman Class A aboard the destroyer USS Harlan Dickson. He was the recipient of the National Defense Service Medal.

Mr. Cummings was employed as a foreman for Conrail and its predecessor, CSX Rail, for over 25 years, retiring in 2006. He had also been employed by General Electric for 10 years in the chemical department (Wire Mill).

He was a member of the Elks Club, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. An outdoorsman, he enjoyed going to the lake and fishing. He was also an avid fan of the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots.

He leaves two sons, Michael Wise and William H. Cummings III, and a daughter, Lorie Martin, all of Pittsfield; two sisters, Kathleen Frank of Savoy and Sharon Cummings of Pittsfield; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

A wake service for Mr. Cummings was Wednesday at the Dery Funeral Home with the Rev. Monsignor Michael Shershanovich, pastor of St. Joseph Church, officiating. Burial was private.

Donations in his memory may be made to the St. Joseph Central High School Scholarship Fund.

Posted by George C. Jordan III on January 17, 2013. Filed under Opinion,View from the Tower. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry