A moment of silence was held at the February delegates meeting of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council for Ken Jette, a retired member of the American Postal Workers Union, who died Feb. 21 at age 77.
Kenneth Reynolds Jette, Jr. was born in Portland on May 14, 1935. He graduated from Columbia Preparatory and earned a bachelor of arts degree in history at the University of Portland.
In the early 1960s he went to work for the U.S. Postal Service, retiring in 2009 after more than 45 years as a clerk at the main branch in downtown Portland.
An advocate for social justice and workers’ rights, Jette was active in the union. He served as president of the Oregon State Council of Postal Workers, and as a delegate to the Northwest Oregon Labor Council. At election time, Jette would always remind delegates how to properly address ballot envelopes and when to put them in mailboxes to ensure that they were delivered on time and their votes were counted.
In 2003 he was the recipient of the “Bridge Builder Award” from the Auxiliary to the American Postal Workers Union.
Jette married R. Eileen Willett in 1965. they divorced in 1990. He is survived by son, Hazen; daughters, Catherine and Melinda;Â two grandchildren; brother, Dennis; and several nieces and nephews.
Memorial donations can be made to the Oregon Postal Workers Union College Scholarship, P.
