Washington Amtrak Derailment Victim Remembered As 'An Angel'

DUPONT, WA - One of the victims in Monday's Amtrak derailment in DuPont was a transit enthusiast who worked for Pierce Transit. Zack Willhoite began working for Pierce Transit in 2008 and was active in preserving and documenting older transit vehicles.

Pierce Transit identified Willhoite Tuesday morning in a statement.

"The entire Pierce Transit team was deeply saddened to learn that one of our employees was a victim of the Dec. 18 Amtrak train accident. IT Customer Service Support Specialist Zack Willhoite has been a Pierce Transit employee since 2008. He has always been deeply appreciated and admired by his colleagues, and played an important role at our agency. He will be sincerely missed. Our thoughts are with Zack’s family, as well as the families of the other victims, during this very difficult time," Pierce Transit wrote in a statement.

Willhoite was a member of the group Friends of 374, which is dedicated to tracking an antique Pierce Transit bus. He was remembered as "an angel."

"Zack supported the preservation of 374 and his transit archives and documentation of Tacoma Transit and Pierce County Transit vehicles is probably more extensive than anyone in the Pacific Northwest region," group member Kevin Cartwright wrote on the page. "We lost an angel today, and we will never forget Zack’s contributions to our hobby."

Willhoite also ran a blog, Busdude.com,

Image courtesy Pierce County Sheriff's Office