Dave Lewis Named 2026 Volunteer of the Year
The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is pleased to announce that Dave Lewis has been named volunteer of the year for 2026. Dave was selected by the Friends of the Railroad Museum’s board of directors from among the Museum’s corps of more than 150 active volunteers for this honor.
A native of the coal country of northeast Pennsylvania, Dave first began watching, and appreciating, trains going by as a child with his dad along the Lehigh Valley main line. His interest in trains also extends to model trains, Lionel in particular. Dave earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Bucknell University and a master’s from the University of Colorado and worked for many years for Mobil Oil.
Following his retirement, Dave worked as a church administrator in Bucks County, Pennsylvania prior to moving to Willow Valley retirement community, where he has a close circle of friends. He was introduced to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania by a board member of the Friends of the Railroad Museum during a group train ride. Dave began as a Museum volunteer in 2022, primarily working in the library two days a week.
“Dave quickly became a constant and reliable presence in the library and archives,” says Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania volunteer/program coordinator Elizabeth Myers. “His diligence has particularly shown through his assistance with scanning. In the past year, he has worked on digitizing images in eight different collections, producing quality scans for the Museum’s online research database. Currently, Dave is part of a duo tackling the James P. Shuman slide collection, which contains over 6,000 images to digitize.”
Dave also contributes his talents to the Whistle Stop Shop museum store, where he steps in to help when extra staffing is needed, especially on busy weekend days. His friendly and calm demeanor has been an asset to the sometimes hectic energy of store life, and the store staff appreciates his help with the pricing of new items as they come in.
Dave values and enjoys the many opportunities to volunteer at the Museum. “There is something for everyone to choose from and to contribute their time and skills,” he says, “and they are all a lot of fun with some wonderful people.” In addition to trains, Lewis counts another form of transportation — cars and auto racing— as a special interest. He frequently and ably assists others with their cars, participates in auto rallies and maintains his own 1959 Turner.
Dave resides in Willow Street, Pennsylvania with his wife of 52 years, Barbara. He will be formally recognized as the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania’s volunteer of the year by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission at a ceremony this spring and during the annual Members Day banquet at the Museum on Saturday, September 26, 2026.
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania director Patrick C. Morrison states that, “Dave is a quiet, dedicated presence whose commitment to the Museum is evident in everything he does. He brings a remarkable work ethic and is exceptionally reliable, consistently arriving early and staying throughout the entire day. Dave has willingly taken on some of our most extensive and time-consuming scanning projects in the library and archives, approaching each task with care and precision. He is the kind of person everyone looks forward to seeing — warm, gracious and genuinely engaging. Both staff and volunteers hold Dave in high regard.”
