In Memoriam

Former labor council leader Ron Fortune dies

Fortune, a 59-year member of UFCW Local 555, led NOLC from 1985 to 1998.

Robert G. Crumpton, 1935-2015

A longtime leader of OEA, he helped pass Oregon's public employee collective bargaining law.

William Martin Fast, 1918-2015

The MEBA rep was a Port commissioner and Oregon labor chair for Nixon’s 1968 presidential run.

William James “Billy” McNicholas, 1926- 2015

The longtime Plumbers union officer was an Irish tenor and a WWII-era vet.

Bruce Zimmerman 1944-2015

Zimmerman was president of IBEW Local 48 and assistant director at the NECA-IBEW Training Center

Ed Whelan, 1926-2015

The former Oregon AFL president was a Korean War vet, fire fighter, legislator, and PGE executive.

Helen Nickum, 1928-2015

The longtime ATU Local 757 secretary formerly worked for a Congresswoman and U.S. Senator

Robert Stanfill, 1923 – 2015

The Plasterers leader and WWII vet led the state building trades for 16 years

John C. Wagoner, 1946 -2014

The Camas native was active in AWPPW, and lobbied in Olympia for fellow mill workers

Steven Fritz, 1960-2014

The OSH psychiatrist was head of his AFSCME local and husband to Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz

Jim Gallagher, 1934-2014

Gallagher worked in public sector unions and retired from UO LERC in 1992.

Ralph Rigdon, 1928-2014

The longtime UAW member was active in union and Democratic politics

Jerry Greer, 1943-2014

Greer was a Machinists union rep and active in the Oregon AFL-CIO.

Ed Beechert, 1920-2014

The retired University of Hawaii professor was an active historian of Northwest labor history

Phil Parker, 1946-2014

The retired IBEW Local 48 officer was head of the SW Washington Labor Roundtable

Jim Zuffrea, 1931-2014

The UFCW Local 555 union rep started as a union meatcutter in New York.

Jerry Krahn, 1936-2014

Krahn was a longtime business agent at United Brotherhood of Carpenters

Garner Pool, 1923-2014

Pool was a union barber in Albany, Oregon for more than five decades.

Tom Worley, 1935-2014

The Navy veteran was business manager of Portland Iron Workers Local 29.

Lloyd Knudsen, 1926-2014

The former Oregon AFL-CIO political director was a longtime member of IBEW Local 48