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Richard Kilroy Sr., international president of the Transportation-Communications Union (TCU) from 1981 to 1991, died of congestive heart failure Feb. 10. He was 79.

After serving in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1948, Kilroy joined the Pennsylvania Railroad as a block operator. He became a member of the Order of Telegraphers, eventually becoming a general chairman.

In 1968, Kilroy became a vice president of the union, which changed its name to the Transportation-Communication Employees Union and later merged with the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks (BRAC). He subsequently served as division vice president and BRAC international vice president.

Following the death of International President Fred Kroll in 1981, Kilroy was elected as TCU’s 11th international president by a unanimous vote. TCU represents mostly railroad employees among its 46,000 members, including clerks, carmen, yardmasters and intermodal workers.

Kilroy also served as a vice president of the AFL-CIO and was among the founders of the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department.

“The officers and members of TCU remember Dick’s commitment to members’ welfare,” TCU officials said in a prepared statement.

Kilroy is survived by his wife, Elvira, six children, 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The family asks that memorial donations be made to the Hospice of Baltimore (Gilchrist Center for Hospice, 555 West Towsontown Blvd., Towson, MD 21204).