This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Kids & Family

End of the Line for Metra Commuter after 40 Years

Orland Park woman takes last ride home after 40 years of riding the rails.

Cathy Lia was just an Oak Lawn teenager when she started taking Metra to her job in downtown Chicago in 1972.

The resident stepped off a Metra train at the 80th Avenue station in Tinley Park for the last time last Wednesday.

She was greeted by her husband, three shouting daughters and a handful of other relatives with flowers and posters as she ended her 40-year career as a commuter.

Find out what's happening in Orland Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Daughter Christine Pieper came in from Wayne, Ill., to greet her mom one last time, as did daughter Erin Johnson, who only had to come from Manhattan, Ill.

“This was my last ride,” she said after getting hugs all around by her loving family.

Find out what's happening in Orland Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Lia is trading her job of 28 years at a Loop law firm for a position as baby sitter for her granddaughter and a few days a week with her husband, Thomas, at the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board in Orland Park.

“When I first started, I caught the train in Oak Lawn,” she said. “Monthly tickets were only $29 back then and Sears Tower wasn’t even built yet.” 

Over the years, Lia has been a regular Metra passenger boarding at the Oak Lawn station, Oak Forest station and, most recently, at the 80th Avenue station.

“I took the train to 10 different locations,” she said, adding that most rides were uneventful, but not all. 

“One time, we hit a garbage truck,” she said with a laugh. “Another time we hit a man on a bicycle. Today, the train had to stop so someone could be taken off for an ambulance.” 

She resisted efforts to tear up her last multi-ride ticket. 

“I’m giving it to my daughter Stephanie,” she said.

Sign up for Orland Park Patch breaking news alerts

Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?