March 2003 IBEW Journal

Appointed

Joseph Fashion

The IBEW is pleased to announce the appointment of Joseph Fashion as Eighth District International Executive Council member, effective January 10, 2003. He will fill the unexpired term left vacant by John E. Cole, who resigned on January 1, 2003.

Brother Fashion has a long record of leadership in his Toronto, Canada, local. A journeyman wireman, he was initiated into Local 353 in Toronto, Ontario in 1958, and served on its executive board for several years. In 1987, he was elected business manager of Local 353. He continues as business manager with his new appointment.

A committed building trades activist, Brother Fashion is vice president of the Ontario Federation of Labour and vice president of the Provincial Building Trades. He is currently the president of the IBEW Construction Council of Ontario.

The IBEW officers, staff and members wish Brother Fashion great success in his new position.

Retired

Leo T. Kabatt

After 35 years of service to the IBEW, Leo T. Kabatt retired on March 1, 2003, as director of the Pension and Death Claims Department.

Brother Kabatt directed that office in Washington, D.C., for 15 years, where he strove every day to assist retired members and their families.

A Pennsylvania native, Brother Kabatt was initiated into Local 380 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, in 1967, where he worked as a journeyman inside wireman for numerous contractors in the Philadelphia area. On the local union level, he was active in the COPE committee and various activities. In 1979, Brother Kabatt was appointed International Representative assigned to the International Office, where he worked in the Pensions and Death Claims and Per Capita departments. Brother Kabatt was appointed director of the Purchasing and Office Services Department in 1982 and he served in that position for five years. In 1987 he became director of the Pension and Death Claims Department. For the past 12 years, he also worked to facilitate cooperative labor relations, assisting directors of the Council on Industrial Relations.

Brother Kabatt served in the U.S. Air Force from 1962 to 1966 as an electronics technician stationed in Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts. After attending night school, Brother Kabatt received a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Villanova University in Pennsylvania in 1979.

Brother Kabatt and his wife, Alice, have four sonsall of whom are members of the U.S. Marine Corpsand four grandchildren. Their oldest son, Paul, is an inside wireman and a member of Local 380.

In his retirement, Brother Kabatt plans to continue to work on his golf game and take up fly fishing while residing in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The officers, staff and members of the Brotherhood thank Brother Kabatt for his years of dedication and wish him a long and happy retirement.

Appointed

Larry P. Reidenbach

The IBEW is pleased to announce the appointment of International Representative Larry P. Reidenbach as director of the Pension and Death Claims Department effective February 15, 2003. He succeeds Leo Kabatt, who retired.

Brother Reidenbach moves to his new post from the I.O. Employee Benefits/Corporate Affairs Department, where he served as reciprocal administrator since April 2002.

As administrator, Reidenbachs day-to-day responsibilities included reciprocal transfer matters and implementation of the IBEWs new Electronic Reciprocal Transfer System (ERTS), an on-line reciprocity system that made its debut in the spring of 2002 following more than a year in development and testing. The new system eases transfer of pension and health and welfare credits for traveling members. In his new post he will continue his involvement with the ERTS system.

Prior to his 2002 appointment as an international representative, Brother Reidenbach served as business manager/ financial secretary of Local 430, Racine, Wisconsin, for seven years beginning in 1995. He was president of the local from 1990 to 1995 and vice president from 1987 to 1995. He also served on the local union Executive Board and on the Labor-Management and Organizing committees.

A native of Burlington, Wisconsin, Brother Reidenbach was initiated into Local 430 in April 1979 and began his IBEW career as a journeyman wireman. He attended Gateway Technical College, the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and the University of Wisconsin School for Workers.

Labor-related activities have included membership on the United Way Labor Advisory Committee and the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Standing Committee for Building Trades. He has also served on the United Way Board of Directors.

The IBEW wishes Brother Reidenbach much success in his new position.

Deceased

Charles S. Goidel

With great sadness,the IBEW announces the death January 24, 2003, of retired Fourth District International Representative Charles S. Goidel, age 85. Brother Goidel retired in 1982 after more than 40 years of service to the IBEW.

Appointed to the Fourth District staff in 1950, his service in that post spanned more than three decades.

Brother Goidel was initiated into the IBEW in 1940 as a member of Local 558, Sheffield, Alabama. He served the local as business manager/ financial secretary. Additional service at the local level included membership on the Examining Board, Executive Board and Apprenticeship and Negotiating committees, as well as service as a steward. Brother Goidel later transferred his membership to former Local 828, Bowling Green, Kentucky. Local 828 was amalgamated into Local 369, Louisville, Kentucky, in 1990.

Born in 1917 in Decatur, Alabama, Brother Goidel was a longtime resident of Bowling Green. He was a member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Masons and the Bowling Green Shriners Club. Brother Goidel was predeceased by his wife, Bess H. Goidel.

The IBEW extends deepest sympathy to Brother Goidels sons, Charles and Don, and to the entire Goidel family.