Richard F. Timmons

Richard Franklin Timmons (born December 24, 1942) is a former American military officer and retired railroad executive.
Early life and education.
Born in Washington, D.C., Timmons is a 1961 graduate of McLean High School. He earned a B.A. degree from the Virginia Military Institute in 1965.
Military career.
As a military officer, he commanded companies in the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in South Vietnam. Later, he commanded the Eighth Army in Korea, was Executive Officer to the Secretary of the Army and served as liaison officer to the U.S. Senate. He performed the final official flight of the OV-1 Mohawk. He retired from the military after thirty-two years of service.
Railroad career.
Timmons joined Norfolk Southern in 1998, becoming Resident Vice President for Public Affairs for Pennsylvania and New York. He left for the position of President of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association on September 3, 2002.
He was awarded "Railway Age"'s "Railroader of the Year" in 2006. After a one-year extension of his tenure at the board's request, he retired at the end of 2014, replaced by Linda Darr.
Personal.
Timmons is the son of Robert Lee Timmons (May 14, 1919 – August 23, 1950) and Jane Winifred Smithdeal (October 5, 1919 – June 13, 2014). Natives of Washington, D.C., the couple were married there on November 20, 1941. His father was an Army infantry officer who served during World War II and was later killed in action during the Battle of Sobuk-san in the Korean War, receiving the Silver Star posthumously. On December 19, 1954 in Alexandria, Virginia, his mother remarried with William Joseph Dailey (January 15, 1920 – August 23, 1981), an Army officer who had also served during World War II and the Korean War. His father, mother and stepfather are all buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
On June 14, 1965, Timmons married Margaret Ann Hopper in Fairfax County, Virginia.