Obituary: Gelhaus, Michael D.
Mike was born on October 27, 1949 in Spokane to Don and Genevieve Gelhaus of Plaza.
Mike attended grade school in Plaza and Spangle, graduating from Liberty High School in the class of 1968.
He began his railroad career with a summer job with the Northern Pacific Railway, working as an assistant to the agent at the Rosalia depot.
Mike attended Spokane Falls Community College, graduating with a degree in business.
He hired on with Burlington Northern Railroad in the early 1970’s as a “hostler” in the yards at Hillyard and eventually became a locomotive engineer with BN, working with the company for nearly 35 years.
Mike was best known for his love for and fascination of trains, not only as a career, but also as a devoted hobby and pastime.
Mike was known for his extensive model train collection, an interest that captivated him for his entire life.
He was also an accomplished rail photo- grapher, winning a spot on four editions of Burlington Northern’s employee photo calendar contest.
Mike traveled by train at every opportunity, often to attend railroad memorabilia trade shows in the mid-west and on the east coast.
Though he loved trains of all sorts, his true passion was centered on Northern Pacific’s flagship passenger train, the North Coast Limited.
Mike traveled on this train in the 1970s, photographing it countless times, documenting the historic period of transition resulting in today’s Amtrak.
In the 1980s, He began to develop and pursue his idea of preserving a moment in time from the era of the great American trans-continental passenger train.
This idea resulted in an ambitious effort of reuniting and restoring a complete set of North Coast Limited passenger cars, which he strived to accomplish for over 30 years.
Mike hosted an annual open house to show off his collection of cars, inviting attendees to see and touch a piece of American rail history.
He is survived by his mother; Genevieve Gelhaus of Spokane, one brother and sister-in-law; Mark and Kathleen Gelhaus of Plaza; one niece, Elizabeth Gelhaus of Springfield, Missouri; two nephews, David Gelhaus of Anyang, South Korea, and Grant Gelhaus of Spokane Valley; one uncle, Gerald Gelhaus of Santa Rosa, California, numerous cousins and friends.
He is preceded in death by his father Don in 2004.
A memorial service will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, December 12, at the South Hill Bible Church, 958 E. 29th Ave. in Spokane.
Private family burial will preceded the service at the Rosalia IOOF Evergreen Cemetery.Schanzenbach Funeral Home, Rosalia, WA.