The IBEW is saddened to report the death of former senior executive assistant to the international secretary-treasurer Arlie Franklin Heald, on July 26.

Brother Heald was initiated into Lincoln, Neb., Local 265 in May 1954. He retired 44 years later from one of the senior-most staff positions in the IBEW.

"The IBEW meant so much to Arlie," said International President Emeritus Edwin D. Hill. "He was an all-around good guy. You could always rely on him to know what was important and get the job right."

Heald served as treasurer of Local 265 from 1958 to 1962, when he joined the executive board and was appointed local president. Heald was elected business manager-financial secretary, a position he held until 1983.

Heald was a high-profile labor activist in his hometown, serving as president of the Nebraska state IBEW council, the Lincoln building trades, and as a member of the executive boards of the Nebraska State AFL-CIO, the Lincoln Council of Labor Unions and the Lincoln Labor-Management political coalition.

He was also a lifelong member of the Scottish Rite Masons, the Shriners and the Lincoln Elks lodge.

Heald was also a force in Nebraska politics, serving on the Lincoln Economic Development Commission, the Lincoln Comprehensive Plan/Goals and Policies Committee, the Lincoln Private Industry Council, the Lancaster County Personnel Board, and the Nebraska Advisory Committee/U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

In September 1983, Brother Heald was appointed an international representative and assigned to the International Office in the Construction and Maintenance Department, where he worked on jurisdiction, project agreements, nuclear agreements, outside utility national agreement and IBEW/UA instrumentation agreements and arbitrations.

In 1988, he was appointed executive assistant to then-International Secretary Jack F. Moore, a position he kept as the jobs of international secretary and treasurer were merged and Hill took on the role.

"He was instrumental in helping me learn what the office was about. I had a general knowledge, but for the quirks, the ins and outs of it, he was invaluable. He was always generous with everyone," Hill said.

Brother Heald retired in 1998, seven months shy of the 45th anniversary of his initiation into the Brotherhood.

Brother Head is survived by his wife, Shirley. The IBEW officers, staff and members extend to his family and friends deep condolences.