Virginia Tech's success stories: Tau Delta, Coal & Railroads

There were several social fraternities at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia in the 60's & 70's. One was Tau Delta, to which the father of my children, Gerry Sniffen, belonged. We married late and so I hadn't been a part of the original college day crowd. But many of the guys and their families kept contact and in touch socially for the years of their lives that followed.

I was so sad to hear that J.W.(Bill) Fox, Jr. died last week. Retired from Norfolk Southern, he was the best of the crowd, with a heart of gold, warm personality, and a great love for his friends. Bill was always happy and successful, good natured and compassionate. His railroad career lead him from the railroad's department of transportation to his highest spot, Sr. VP Coal Sales, with Norfolk Southern Railway. I remember when Bill's father, who had been V.P. of Labor and Law for Norfolk and Western Railroad, died. It's sad to know Bill died much like my own Dad in 1962 at the age of 39. A sudden shock is very difficult for families to bear.

Other Tau Delt fraternity brothers had professions that complimented the railroad, heavy equipment and coal industries, including Mike Quillen, an extremely successful coal executive with connections to many coal companies interests in several states besides being a director for NC based Martin Merietta. Bill Fox had been a director with Quillen's most recent company Alpha Natural Resources. Titus "Buddy" Wilfore, another "Delt" and close friend was an executive with a Norton, coal-country Virginia Caterpillar dealership, and then later moved up with a Atlanta Caterpillar dealership; John Jones, another brother became an executive with a huge power company, and John Skelton, a Virginia real estate executive. One of the brothers was a lobbyist in Washington, DC and there were many other successes that came from Virginia Tech's Tau Delta Fraternity. They stayed close through the years and Bill kept many members of the Tech fraternity group in touch.

Robert and Graham Claytor were from my hometown, and the Claytor Lake area, an area of SW Virginia where Virginia Tech was located. They were railroad execs, CEO's from the WWII Era. Graham had been Jimmy Carter's Secretary of the Navy, and had been closely associated with the late and former governor of Kentucky, Happy Chandler. Their father had been a VP at the power company. Claytor Lake was named after them. Folks at Delt said the brass at Norfolk & Western liked placing Tech grads in special railroad slots. I had always wondered whether Graham Claytor knew my Dad, a pilot, an Lieutenant Commander in the Navy, and of the same hometown and era. They surely knew of his father, my grandfather, foreman of the car shop, who was choice with his artistry in refinishing the desks of the high level executives with his personal touch.

My former husband of 23 years, native New Yorker, Gerry Sniffen relocated to Virginia and lost his New York accent at Virginia Tech. He rose from a managerial position with a Caterpillar dealership to become assistant vice president of communications and signals for Norfolk Southern railway. He had first planned to marry a coal miner's daughter but then found me, part of a long time railroad family. His railroad boss, Phil Ogden, former VP Engineering Norfolk Southern, affiliated with Okonite of NJ, is said to have once lived in Somerset, Kentucky and is board director now for RJ Corman Railroad in Nicholasville, Kentucky.

Virginia Tech is where these guys had a fraternity house, some of them lived, and partied. The fraternity was mostly a party crowd, but had a branch that was involved in drugs. The stories told later were of how they stole a cow and actually butchered it in the basement for food, filled the basement with sand and had a beach party, got caught lighting farts, and of course the familiar story of bribing a judge. There were all kinds of stories. They had a lot of fun.

Now these guys, several of them are some of the most successful businessmen that Virginia Tech produced. They had older fraternity brothers who were powerful and connected.

It's a small world.

Of all these Tau Delta, and railroad related success stories it saddens me most to see the first to go is Bill Fox.

He was the best.

R.I.P.

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This blog is written to unravel the truth regarding Gerard J. Sniffen, III, a very gifted musician who at age 20, disappeared in 1998 last seen by his mother in a Cobb County, Georgia divorce court.

Two months later he was reported dead in Alabama. While his mother was being arrested and harassed by police during the divorce action, with false accusations, his memorial service was held in Georgia, and his burial services in Virginia. The autopsy and police reports did not match his true body identification in that police reports indicated shoulder length hair, and forensics reports indicated 3-in scars at each knee indicating knee surgery. Gerard J. Sniffen, III had neither.

Attorney Kenneth H. Schatten of Atlanta advised her just last summer, 2010, that there was so much money against Gerry's mother, she would never discover the truth of what really happened to her son, Gerard J. Sniffen, III. He advised her to stop writing her story on the internet. He said, "Think of it this way, maybe they have your son somewhere and they've told him if he tries to contact you or his brother or sister, they'll kill you."

It was odd that Kentucky attorney Gatewood Galbraith said nearly the same thing. "You don't have any lawsuits. There's too much money against you," he said.

And Louisville FBI agent, Brian Blanchard, said, "The railroad has lawyers you can't beat."

Since when is a divorce involving a corporation? So the question is, when a person gets a divorce, do they divorce the spouse's corporation, as well? Do they divorce the spouse's fraternity brothers?

This blog about a mother, former railroad corporate wife of 23 years, and former political cartoonist and artist who refuses to live her life or allow her remaining children to live under death threats, oppression or intimidation.
It's about persecutions including false arrests, multiple incarcerations, continuing police harassment, intimidation and stalking.

It is about her successes in the world of the American Kennel Club where she produced two champions to later endure their offspring killed at her home. It's about...

..... her attempt to help solve the murder of Amy Frink of Shallotte, NC whose reported death was similar to the subsequent reported death and disappearance of her own son.

..... legal tactics used by attorneys, sloppy investigating and stonewalling of Baldwin County, Alabama police regarding her child's disappearance.

.....her attempt to find justice

It's a story that has questioned the justice system, and exposed the tactics used to destroy and render a person to poverty, completely alone and helpless.

It attempts to unravel a network of those who have worked together to keep the truth concealed, and some who tried to expose it. Besides Schlette there are several other musical connections mentioned within the blog.

This blog is about the determination to survive, the refusal to live under the oppression of conspiring criminals, persistent stalkers, and to unravel the truth and insure that other Americans can never be silenced, persecuted or intimidated to endure similar circumstances in a country as great as ours.

It is also about investigating the justice system and how deaths and investigations are handled and it's about correcting the system for the sake of so many people whose tragic stories have been buried within it.

Gerry's mother was told by two attorneys, Attorney Kenneth Schatten of Georgia, and Gatewood Galbraith of Kentucky there was too much money working against her. Mr. Schatten emphasized that she would absolutely never get the truth because of the huge amount of money that was able to keep the true story concealed.

The questions are, how and why would anyone with great wealth keep a child from his mother and siblings? What is an attorney's responsibility to his client? Is it a lawyer's responsibility to report to police crime, conspiracy or murder if he suspects it in his case?

If anyone can offer information please leave a comment or email fm_looney@yahoo.com