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MRS EVELYN WILLIAMS
—Houston, TX
Dear Capt. Scarborough, How nice of you to call, I
enjoyed talking to you.
As I told you, my granddaughter, Freya Shiller, was
a 777 F/O when CO and UAL merged. She had a
chance to bid Capt. On 75-76 which she did. When
ready for her first trip as Capt., the company was
out of wings. She asked if she could use her grand-
father’s wings. Robert B. retired in 1987 so they
were old. She now wears them all the time. Both
CO and UALK crews think it’s great.
Her grandfather would be so very proud of her.
They were very close. He is buried in Houston Na-
tional Cemetery which is right off Bush Internation-
al runways, so she tips her wings whenever possi-
ble. Best Wishes,
Evelyn Williams
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May, 2015 RUPANEWS
FLOYD L. ALFSON
Floyd L. Alfson, 85, passed away
peacefully on March 23, 2015 with
his family by his side following a
long battle with kidney disease.
Floyd was born in Williston, North
Dakota on January 7, 1930. He had
five siblings and spent his childhood
in Williston where his father was a
local farmer and owner of Alfson City Elevator. He
attended Montana State University (1948-1949) and
graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology
in 1952 with a degree in photography. Floyd
learned to fly while serving in the U.S. Air Force
from 1953-1955. In 1955, he joined United Airlines
where he enjoyed a long career before retiring in
1990 as a 747 captain after more than 34 years of
service.
Floyd loved traveling and the outdoors and in his
younger years enjoyed camping, hunting, fishing
and playing golf. He was an avid reader, knowl-
edgeable in many subjects, and very accomplished
in everything he set his mind to. His many passions
included woodworking, cooking and baking bread.
Floyd was a longtime member of RUPA. He was a
past President and member of the Board of Direc-
tors and served in other roles within the organiza-
tion. He was also an active member of SIRS for
many years. Floyd had a friendly manner and was
well liked by everyone he met. A true gentleman,
he was always ready to offer a helping hand to any-
one who asked. He will also be remembered by
many for his great smile, his sense of humor and his
bear hugs. Above all, Floyd was a wonderful, kind
and caring husband, father and grandfather who
loved his family very much.
Floyd is survived by his beloved wife of 47 years,
Charlene; two daughters, three grandchildren, two
sisters, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
RUPA lost one of its most important, dedicated and
valuable members the day that Floyd Alfson flew
west.
I first met Floyd during the 1985 strike working at
the Strike Headquarters at SFO. He was as dedi-
cated to the ALPA and the strike as he later became
to RUPA. Most members wouldn’t be that aware of
the things Floyd did for RUPA, as he was more of a
behind the scenes kind of guy.
Floyd retired a couple of years before I did and we
didn’t see much of each other until Walt Ramseur
invited me to a RUPA Board meeting in 1994. The
purpose of the meeting was to offer me the position
of Sec/Treasurer, which was presently held by
George Howson. George had held that position for
over 20 years. When I took over the position in
1995 I found that I needed a lot of help as the mem-
bership database was in very sad shape. Right
away, Floyd volunteered to help. He had a retired
American pilot friend who was a whiz at working
with databases. It took us awhile, but we finally
brought the RUPA database into the modern, digital
world. It wouldn’t have happened without Floyd.
While we were working together he told me how
things were being run in RUPA when he first joined.
The first thing Floyd found that needed to be im-
proved was the printing and mailing of the then
“RUPA Newsletter.” It was being printed at the
SFO Maintenance Base in the UAL Print Shop.
RUPA never knew for sure when the Newsletter
would be printed. When the Print Shop called and
said the Newsletter was ready to be picked up all
the volunteers were called and would go to the
Maintenance Base where they did the “folding and
stuffing.” Back then they really did fold and stuff
the Newsletter, that’s where the name “Folders and
Stuffers” came from. It was printed on 8 ½ X 11
sheets which were folded in half and pressed down
using a block of wood to get a sharp seam. Floyd
found a local printer and that solved the timing of
the printing and the volunteers no longer had to do
the folding, just attach the labels. Floyd and his
wife, Charlene, opened their home to the volunteers
who cut and presorted the labels each month. They
even provided coffee and cookies. Floyd continued
to print the labels until we started having the RU-
PANEWS printed in and mailed from Denver.
Here in the Bay Area we used to have annual RUPA
picnics and “The Boy’s Night Out” dinners and
Floyd was essential in organizing these functions.
In fact, he actually baked the buns for the burgers
and hot dogs.
Floyd was a past president of RUPA, served on the
Board of Directors for over 20 years, and was an
46
May, 2015 RUPANEWS
auditor of the RUPA finances. He will be sorely
missed and not easily replaced. Cleve Spring, Ed
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