Hugh Stephens dies at 93 Hugh Stephens loving husband father and friend died Thursday February 26 2004 in Cedarburg Wis. where he had lived for more than 50 years. He was 93 years old. Mr. Stephens had an unusually full career first in the fledgling airline industry and later in hobby publishing and the model railroad business. Mr. Stephens was born October 15 1910 in Norfolk Va. The family moved to Charleston W.Va. when young Hugh was 5 and he spent the remainder of his youth there. Mr. Stephens' parents sent him to Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham Va. where he graduated in 1930 as Captain of the Cadets the highest rank possible. The young Mr. Stephens developed a keen interest in aviation and during the summers of his teen years began working at Johnson Flying Service in Dayton Ohio. His career goals were in aviation and he landed an operations job in Chicago with Transcontinental Western Air (later known as TWA). He thrived in the new industry moving from TWA to work briefly at Eastern Air Lines then to Northwest Air Lines where he became the first director of public relations. Despite his aviation career Mr. Stephens' fascination with trains and model trains persisted from his earliest years. The hobby of scale model trains was evolving in the early 1930s and Mr. Stephens became an active participant. Real trains also played a role in Mr. Stephens' life. During his daily commute from suburban Berwyn to his airline job in Chicago he met an attractive blond who frequently rode the same train. He and Doris Montieth were married in 1939. As World War II loomed Mr. Stephens applied for pilot training in the Royal Canadian Air Force but the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor precluded more U.S. citizens going north to serve. Instead he joined the Army Air Corps serving in the Air Transport Command primarily in the North Atlantic. He achieved the rank of Major. After the war Mr. Stephens returned to the airline business this time for American Airlines. The couple's first son William Stephens was born in 1945. A pending promotion in 1948 that would require frequent family moves caused Mr. Stephens to contact Al Kalmbach publisher of Model Railroader and Trains magazines who was looking for an editor for Kalmbach Publishing Co.'s new trade magazine for hobby retailers Hobby Merchandiser. Mr. Stephens took the job and the family moved to Cedarburg in 1949. A second son Michael Stephens was born in 1953. Mr. Stephens' career flourished at Kalmbach and he eventually became vice president of sales and marketing as well as an officer in the firm. Mr. Stephens left Kalmbach in 1967 to launch his own company in Cedarburg American Train Track which imported HO scale models from England Austria Yugoslavia and Japan for use in train sets for hobby shops and department stores. During visits to Europe the variety performance and detail of model trains manufactured in Germany Austria and other European countries fascinated Mr. Stephens. He formed a new company AMRO as an importer/mail-order retailer of European model trains and eventually gained U.S. rights to many of the most famous European brands. Mr. Stephens sold AMRO in 1973 at the age of 63 and briefly retired but was soon tapped to run the Model Railroad Industry Association. He became MRIA's executive secretary in 1975 and served until 1987. His wife Doris died in 1978. He was a life member of the National Model Railroad Association having joined in 1935 as a charter member and in 1987 was given the organization's Distinguished Service Award. In 1985 the Hobby Industry of America honored him with its President's Award and in 1999 he was elected to the Model Railroad Industry's Hall of Fame. In his last years Mr. Stephens continued to work on the model railroad in the basement of his Cedarburg home; he built seven model-train layouts over the course of his life. Mr. Stephens is survived by his two sons William (Carol Corriea) of Milford Conn. and Michael (Tammy) of Cedarburg Wis. and a granddaughter Angela of Wauwatosa Wis. At Mr. Stephens' request no services will be held. Donations can be made to the General Scholarship Endowment Hargrave Military Academy 200 Military Drive Chatham Va. 24531. Eernisse Funeral Home Port Washington is assisting the family. br /Service:br /2:00 PM at on February 28 2004 (a target=_blank href=http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?city=state=address=zip=zoom=8map/driving directions/a) br/br/