JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- William Thomas Rice, a decorated soldier and railroad visionary who was instrumental in the 1980 creation of CSX Corporation, died in Richmond, Va., on Sunday after a brief illness. He was 93.
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Mr. Rice, chairman emeritus of Seaboard Coast Line Industries Inc., a predecessor company of CSX Corporation, began his railroad career in 1934 with the Pennsylvania Railroad. He rose from track supervisor to lead railroads that today are part of CSX Transportation, Inc.
"We have lost a friend and colleague in Tom Rice," said CSX Corporation Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Ward. "Tom's contributions to CSX and this industry will endure as among the most significant of the 20th Century."
Mr. Rice, a decorated Army veteran of World War II, directed overseas operations of the Military Railway Service in both European and Pacific Theaters. Later, he rose to the rank of major general in the Army Reserve. He was the recipient of the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and in 1999 was inducted into the Army Transportation Corps Hall of Fame.
Following active duty in 1946, he joined the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad and was named its president in 1955. He was appointed president of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company in 1957, and was elected president and director of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company in 1967 upon the merger of the ACL and Seaboard Air Line Railroads.
He also served as chairman of SCL Industries, the merged company's parent, and chairman of The Family Lines, the combined name for the SCL and the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, among others.
In 1987, the 850-acre Waycross terminal, one of CSX Transportation's largest and busiest rail car classification yards, was renamed Rice Yard in his honor. Mr. Rice led the development of the Waycross terminal that today handles more than 1 million rail cars annually.
Mr. Rice, along with former CSX Chairman and CEO Hays T. Watkins, was instrumental in creating the merger of SCL and the Chessie System to form CSX Corporation on Nov. 1, 1980, and Mr. Rice served on CSX's original Board of Directors.
A native of Hague, Va., Mr. Rice graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1934 with a degree in civil engineering and received honorary degrees from Stetson University and The Citadel. He was a member of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. Mr. Rice was preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Jaqueline, and a son, John Thomas Rice. He is survived by a daughter, Jaqueline Rice Heard; his daughter-in-law, Grace Arendall Rice; seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Friday at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Va. Interment will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Yeocomico Church in Westmoreland County, Va. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets W. Thomas Rice Scholarship Fund or Westminster Canterbury Fellowship Fund in Richmond, Va.
More detailed information on Mr. Rice is available at http://www.csx.com/ .
CSX Corporation, based in Jacksonville, Fla., is one of the leading transportation companies, providing rail, intermodal and rail-to-truck transload services. The company's transportation network spans 22,000 miles, serves 23 eastern states and the District of Columbia, and connects to more than 70 ocean, river and lake ports. More information about CSX Corporation and its subsidiaries is available at the company's web site, http://www.csx.com/ .
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