Randolph R. Resor, federal transportation analyst

Randolph R. Resor, 61, an adviser since 2009 to the assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation, died of a heart attack Friday, Nov. 1, at his home in Merchantville.

He was an industry analyst for the department's Surface Transportation Board from 2006 to 2009.

And from 1987 to 2006, Mr. Resor was vice president for costing and economic analysis at Zeta-Tech Associates Inc., a railway engineering consulting firm in Cherry Hill, where he worked on international projects, his wife, Carol, said in a phone interview.

Born in White Plains, N.Y., Mr. Resor graduated from the St. Albans School in Washington, earned a bachelor's in Latin American history at the University of Chicago, and studied in the transportation program at Northwestern University.

He began his career in property sales at the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad in 1976 and was a special assistant at the Association of American Railroads in 1977 and 1978.

He was an analyst for the former U.S. Railway Association from 1978 to 1980, tracking the progress of Conrail repairs, and from 1980 to 1982 was a consultant to the Federal Railroad Administration on Northeast Corridor improvements.

For almost five years, he was the assistant planning director for the New York City Transit Authority, responsible for planning an $85 million annual track reconstruction program.

"He was very proud of that," his wife said.

And, she said, "he was very proud of his publishing accomplishments," as the author of more than 40 papers in professional journals.

He also wrote a chapter in the textbook  Intermodal Transportation: Moving Freight in the Global Economy,  published by the Eno Center for Transportation in Washington, in 2011.

Besides by his wife of 22 years, Mr. Resor is survived by son Robert, daughter Joy Resor, three sisters, and former wives Frieda Young and Monica Day.

A memorial service was set for 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at the First United Methodist Church, 446 Camden Ave., Moorestown, N.J. 08057, followed by a reception in the church hall.

Donations may be made to the church.

Condolences may be offered to the family at www.allowayfh.com.