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Menlo Park man killed by train was former Elks leader

by Sandy Brundage

Stephen Ebaugh, the 53-year-old man killed by a train in Menlo Park on Sept. 12, had a long history of service, first as a U.S. Marine. He later worked for NASA and served as president of the Palo Alto Elks.

Jan Poellot, who works in the Elks office, said the lodge was not at liberty to discuss Mr. Ebaugh's life.

The Elks newsletter ran a 2007 profile of Mr. Ebaugh that described him as a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corp who later worked for NASA as an experimental aircraft research technician. He filled the office of lodge chaplain before becoming president in 2009.

Southbound train number 438 struck Mr. Ebaugh on train tracks at Glenwood Avenue, north of the Menlo Park station, at about 5:14 p.m., Caltrain spokeswoman Tasha Bartholomew said.

Mr. Ebaugh was on the tracks for unknown reasons, and Caltrain's official position is that he was trespassing, she added.

No further information is available yet about the accident. Ms. Bartholomew said this is the seventh fatality for Caltrain this year.