The officers regret to report that International Representative Duane W. Moore passed away on April 2. He was 59.

Born in Portland, Ore., Brother Moore moved with his parents to Apple Valley in San Bernardino, Calif., where he attended high school and was initiated into San Bernardino Local 477 in 1978. He later transferred to Bakersfield Local 428.

An inside journeyman wireman, Moore served as the local's recording secretary and vice president, commencing a long career as an organizer.

"Duane taught me so much. He was completely fearless," says Matthew Ruff, organizing coordinator for the Carolinas, who met Moore in 2007 when Moore was sent to lead the Carolinas Initiative.

Moore would frequently meet Ruff, formerly an organizer with Charlotte, N.C., Local 379, when passing through the city's airport to talk shop. "Duane did most of the talking. And I did most of the listening. He was a teacher, a mentor, a friend and a brother," Ruff says. "He was one of the best the IBEW has to offer."

Kirk Brungard, IBEW's former director of construction organizing, first worked with Moore, a rodeo bull-riding cowboy and Harley-Davidson stalwart, in 1998, when Brungard was appointed as a local union organizer for Los Angeles Local 11.

"No single individual shaped my organizing ideology more than Duane Moore," Brungard said. "He had boundless passion, and lit a fire under me and countless others that will never be extinguished. In my mind, that had a lot to do with the IBEW, but it also had every bit to do with the magic and talent of Duane Moore."

Brungard, who now serves as executive assistant to AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler, said, "When President Hill granted the latitude to establish an organizing all-star team to work in Florida, my first call was to my friend and mentor Duane Moore."

In 2004, Moore, who attended the University of California at Davis, San Diego State University and the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, began hosting a radio show in Bakersfield billed as "talk radio for liberals and intelligent conservatives." He co-hosted another talk show in the predominantly politically conservative region before leaving for another job.

Moore served as president of the Kern, Inyo and Mono Counties Central Labor Council and as vice chairman of the Kern County Democratic Central Committee. He was the founder and former editor of Electrical Employees' News, a bi-monthly newsletter for nonunion tradesmen, with a circulation of more than 4,000.

Retired IBEW International Representative Larry Liles met Moore when Liles served as business manager of Santa Barbara, Calif., Local 413. He recalls Moore working with Local 413 Business Agent Steve Ray and retired Ninth District International Representative Cecil Wynn to create innovative techniques that helped contribute to the IBEW's national program. "Duane was ornery, but fun," says Liles, who along with dozens of IBEW members, followed Moore's frequent posts on Facebook detailing his treatments for and failing health from cancer. The IBEW's officers, staff and members send our most heartfelt condolences to Brother Moore's family and many friends.

We are saddened to report that retired Second District International Representative Kara Mulvey died March 5. She was 80.

Sister Mulvey was initiated into Fort Wayne, Ind., Local 723 in 1967 as an employee of General Telephone. The company was the largest independent phone company in the U.S. during the days of the Bell system. It was also ripe for organizing, as Mulvey helped prove. Over the next couple of years, she helped local activists organize the commercial and accounting departments in Fort Wayne and Terre Haute.

Her talent for organizing was noticed by then-International President Gordon Freeman, who appointed her an International Representative almost immediately after she joined the union. Sister Mulvey went on to help organize the expanding industry in Ohio, Pennsylvania, upstate New York and later throughout New England.

In 1973, she was assigned to the Second District staff. For the next two decades, she assisted with setting up local unions for thousands of workers from New England Telephone, whose service area is now split between Verizon New England and FairPoint Communications. Sister Mulvey guided new trade unionists through the process of electing officers and establishing bylaws, and also taught industrial steward training throughout the Second District.

"She was a hard-working woman who was very dedicated to the IBEW, and anything you asked her to do, she was always willing to be available," said Second District International Representative Carol Fitzgerald.

The two first met in the early '70s when Fitzgerald was an operator out of Boston Local 2222. "Kara organized my group at New England Telephone — she's the one who brought us into the union," Fitzgerald said. "She was my mentor, and I was very happy to have her expertise to learn from."

Sister Mulvey retired in 1994.

A noted fan of jazz music and the outdoors, she is survived by three daughters, five grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

On behalf of the members and staff of the IBEW, the officers send our condolences to Sister Mulvey's family, friends and loved ones.