I received sad news a couple of days ago that my good friend Fred Sill passed away on December 18, 2019.  Although I never met Fred in person, we had many good discussions about Canal Zone history.  He contributed many things on the CZ Images website including the old late 1930 film of Canal operations.  The best part of our discussions was the things that Fred knew.  He was the son of Canal Construction Engineer and had lots of stories his Dad told him like this one:

"My dad was about to become one of the members who resigned when the canal opened.  When Goethals asked him, soon after the inauguration, what his plans were, he said "To return to upstate New York to continue my work as a civil engineer". Goethals said "Stick around! Now's when the fun begins!".

Fred had a slew of stories of his own.  He filled in so many blanks of information that I was needing for this and that.  Just like when my old friend Nina Brown passed I have a hollow spot in my life with yet another friend gone.  Thanks for all the discussions and being my friend Fred.  Rest in Peace.

The photo above was taken at the Museo del Canal Interoceánico de Panamá in 2015 when Fred donated the items showing on the table to the museum.