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Accolades for Public Service 

The newly dedicated Jack H. Drew Sr. Water Authority Complex in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, stands as a notable public tribute to a longtime IBEW member of Local 613. The handsome, glass-front building was renamed in honor of Brother Jack H. Drew Sr. in tribute to his outstanding 23-year record of service to the community on the board of the Clayton County Water Authority.

On the occasion of his recent retirement, Brother Drew received the accolades of his peers and a proclamation from the Clayton County Commissioners during the rededication of the Water Authority Complex, a facility he was instrumental in building.

Brother Drew joined IBEW Local 613 in 1960, where he earned his journeyman electrician ticket. A few years later, after further study and education, he earned his Certified Master Electrician license.
During his career as an electrician, he became a pioneer in construction safety and health in the 1970s, culminating in his selection as Local 613's first director of safety and health. With this background, he was chosen in 1980 to become manager of safety and health for an eight-state region of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Brother Drew joined the Water Authority Board in 1975 and became its chairman in 1985. Upon his arrival, the Authority faced the difficult task of cleaning up the Flint River as federally mandated by the newly enacted Clean Water Act. He also initiated a plan to build and acquire reservoirs so the Authority would no longer be dependent upon the city of Atlanta for raw water resources, and several reservoirs opened during his tenure as chairman. He was primarily responsible for the Water Authority's move into a new headquarters building in 1992, and its rededication in his honor is testament to the high regard in which he is held for his achievements and public service to the community.

More on 'The Storm'

The great ice storm of 1998 will never be forgotten by those who suffered its wrath or by the thousands of IBEW members from many locals who helped restore power to stricken communities.  Now, the heroic efforts of IBEW members have been memorialized.

Steve Driscol is a lineman living in the Ottawa area and a member of IBEW Local 636, Toronto, Ontario.  He is also a self-taught artist who uses the medium of the pencil to create memorable images of line workers in action.  Brother Driscol presented a special signed copy of one such drawing, entitled "Perseverance", to International J. J. Barry.  "Perseverance" commemorates the work of IBEW members in the great storm of 1998, and the print proudly hangs in the Utility Department at the International Office in Washington, D. C.

Those wishing to see other samples of Brother Driscol's work can visit www.powerlineman.com and click on "Line Art," or e-mail him at: ea609@freenet.carleton.ca. His mailing address is: P.O. Box 174, Kars, Ontario, Canada K0A 2E0.

TRANSITIONS

Appointed
Mark H. Ayers

International President J. J. Barry is pleased to announce the appointment of International Representative Mark H. Ayers to the position of Director of the Construction and Maintenance Department at the International Office, effective December 1, 1998. He was appointed to this position following the assignment of International Representative Michael Daugherty to the Sixth District Staff.

Brother Ayers has been a member of Local 34, Peoria Illinois, since 1973. He served Local 34 as a business manager/financial secretary, assistant business manager, business representative and treasurer. He was a cofounder and chairman of the Central Illinois Chapter of NECA-IBEW Local 34 Quality Connection. He was also appointed to the National Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee by International President Barry. He has served as a trustee and chairman of the NECA-IBEW Welfare and Pension Trust Funds and been a member of the board and executive committee member of the Peoria Area Labor Management Council (PALM) and the Labor Management Cooperative Health Program (LMC). He was secretary-treasurer of the West Central Building and Construction Trades Council as well as a member of the Tri County Construction Labor Management Council (TRICON), which is the joint labor management marketing arm of the construction industry. He was also secretary-treasurer of the Illinois State Conference of the IBEW.

In addition to his labor activities, Brother Ayers was a commissioner of the Peoria Civic Center Authority, a board member of the Central Illinois Chapter of the American Red Cross, a governing board member of the Forest Park Foundation and the first and only labor member of the Rotary Club of Peoria. Brother Ayers was appointed an International Representative in May 1, 1998.

He has attended the George Meany Institute for Labor Studies, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Illinois Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations and the International Foundation for Employee Benefits as well as serving his country as a United States Navy Aviator.

The IBEW extends its best wishes to Brother Ayers as he assumes the duties of his new position 

Retired

Richard Earl Stromberg

International Representative Richard E. Stromberg announces his retirement from the Brotherhood, effective January 1, 1999, after more than 43 years of service. Before his initiation into IBEW Local 99, Providence, Rhode Island, in July 1956, Brother Stromberg served in the U.S. Marines, the Third Marine Division Fleet Marine Force (FMF) during the Korean War, from 1952 to 1955. He was 17 years old then--the youngest Marine in the Division, stationed at Nara, Japan. From 1960-1972, he was chairman of the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC), and in 1963, served on his local=s Executive Board. Brother Stromberg also was president and business manager of his local until 1984, when he was appointed an International Representative by then-International President Charles Pillard and assigned to the Construction and Maintenance Department at the International Office.

Brother Stromberg attended Roger Williams College and Brown University, and studied Labor Law, Arbitration and Conciliation. His specialty while at the International Office was monitoring adherence to the Davis-Bacon Act, as well as the Service Contract Act, and he was soon appointed by President J.J. Barry as a permanent IBEW member on the Council on Industrial Relations (CIR). He also worked on the Construction Arbitration Panel and was co-chair on the IBEW/CBS Arbitration Panel.

Committees within his local on which he worked were the Negotiating, Labor-Management, By-Laws, Political Action, Pension/Annuity, Health & Welfare and Safety Committees. He was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Health & Welfare Committee, Chair of the Political Action Committee, Chair of the Executive Council State AFL-CIO and the Executive Council State Labor Council.

Brother Stromberg is proud of his IBEW career and credits his father, Gunnar, an avid trade unionist, who also considered it an honor to be a member and serve his brothers and sisters in the IBEW and throughout the country. Brother Stromberg and his wife Roberta plan to spend their retirement years between Rhode Island, Aruba and Florida. The IBEW wishes Brother Stromberg and his entire family a long, healthy and enjoyable retirement.

David Lawrence Sager

Third District International Representative David L. Sager announces his retirement, effective November 1, 1998. Initiated into then-Local 631, Newburgh, New York, on February 22, 1954, Brother Sager served on the Examining Board from June 1966 through February 1973, when he was elected assistant business manager and treasurer from 1973 through 1988. Positions held within his local were as secretary-treasurer, Newburgh Joint Electrical Apprenticeship and Training Committee and as a member on the Bylaws, Trustee Health and Welfare Fund and Clambake Committees.

Brother Sager was an active member of labor-related committees, which included the New York State AFL-CIO COPE Executive Board, the New York State Building and Construction Trades Council, the Orange County, New York, Central Labor Committee, and the Labor Advisory Committee in the 20^th Congressional District, for Congressman Ben Gilman. His education was at Hartwick College, at New York's Cornell University Labor Studies program, and at the George Meany School, Silver Spring, Maryland. He also served as delegate to the Westchester-Putnam Building Trades Council and the Duchess County Building and Trades Council.

He was appointed an International Representative on August 1, 1988, and assigned to the Third District staff. Brother Sager proudly announces that he is one of ten Sagers, who were members Local 631, including a former secretary and business manager, making three generations of IBEW members in the Sager family.

The IBEW extends its best wishes for a long, healthy and well-earned retirement to Brother Sager and his wife, Elizabeth Ann, and family.

Deceased

Robert K. Garrity
Retired Eleventh District Vice President

The IBEW is saddened to announce the death of retired Eleventh District International Vice President Robert K. Garrity on November 27, 1998. Brother Garrity was born in Glen Ullin, North Dakota, on August 13, 1909. He was initiated into IBEW Local 949 (then located in Austin, Minnesota) in August 1937 and served that local as assistant business manager. Later he became a member of Local 616, Grand Island, Nebraska. In March 1938 he was assigned to the International staff of the Sixth District, and upon creation of the Eleventh District was reassigned to that District in 1947.

Brother Garrity was appointed Eleventh District International Vice President in July 1965 and served in that capacity with distinction until he retired on April 1, 1976. A member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, he served in the U.S. Army from April 1942 to December 1945.

The IBEW extends sincere sympathy to his family and friends.

Robert E. Lee Webb

The Brotherhood is saddened to announce the death of Twelfth District International Representative Robert E. Lee Webb, on November 20, 1998, at 93 years old. Born on July 28, 1905, in Lenoir, North Carolina, Brother Webb was initiated into IBEW Local 584, Tulsa, Oklahoma, but later transferred his card to Local 474, Memphis, Tennessee. From 1933 to 1943, Brother Webb served his local as Chairman of the Executive Board and was elected president and assistant business manager of his local. In addition, from 1932 to 1942, he was Regional Director for 18 counties in Oklahoma for the U.S. Employment Service on all training programs, and was responsible for rehabilitating more than 240,000 persons into permanent employment. He was on special assignment in from 1944 to 1946 in Local 390, Port Arthur, Texas, for then-Seventh District Vice President W.L. Ingram.

In May 1946, he was appointed an International Representative and assigned to the International Office staff. There he set up the National Manufacturing Division, negotiating with such companies as Westinghouse, AT&T, RCA, General Cable and Gould Battery Company and organized many locals.

Community organizations to which he belonged were the Shrine of the Scottish Rite, the Elks, Lions, Alabama Lodge of Research, and was a Masonic Chaplin. He retired April 1, 1976. An ardent sportsman, Brother Webb played golf, baseball, football and participated in boxing. The IBEW extends to the family of this dedicated trade unionist its sincere sympathy.

Clarence M. Young

The Brotherhood is saddened to announce the death of retired International Representative Clarence M. Young on November 16, 1998. Born October 6, 1925, in Cicero, Illinois, Brother Young was initiated into IBEW Local 1859, also in Cicero, on October 1, 1953, after serving as an aerial gunner in the 15^th Air Force in World War II and in the Marine Corps during the Korean conflict. He served his local as an officer and chairman of the Grievance and Education Committees. He became vice president of the local in 1954 and initiated one of the first mobile blood banks at the local as well as the first pre-retirement program. Brother Young was appointed an International Representative in April 1963.

Brother Young on the staff of the Department of Labor Education at Roosevelt University in Chicago and taught courses in Grievance handling for various international unions and was one of the founding fathers of the System Council EM-3. He was also one of the several members of a special committee responsible for drafting the steward training program that is used today, but he is perhaps best known for organizing three Western Electric Hawthorne Works' plants, which brought 20,000 workers into the Brotherhood. He was also a 37-year member of the Veteran's of Foreign Wars.

To his family and friends, the IBEW extends sincere sympathy.

Lawrence Tafoya

With regret, the IBEW announces the death of retired Ninth District International Representative Lawrence Tafoya, on September 20, 1998. Brother Tafoya was born August 9, 1922 in LaJunta, California. Before joining the IBEW, he was first recruited by George Meany and was an International Representative for the American Bakery & Confectionery Workers International Union. While there he served as one of the first organizers of the AFL-CIO Los Angeles/Orange County Organizing Committee in 1963, and ultimately was appointed its co-chair.

On September 1, 1966, Brother Tafoya was initiated into Local 1710, Los Angeles, California. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed an International Representative on February 15, 1967, and assigned to the Organizing Department and later assigned to the Ninth District.

Labor-related and community organizations on which he served were the Contract Negotiating Committee; the Credit Union Committee; the Mexican-American Labor Council in the Southern California area; and the Catholic Parents Association. Brother Tafoya's military service was in the Merchant Marines from 1941 to 1945. He attended Los Angeles City College and the University of New Mexico. After 40 years of dedicated service to the labor movement, Brother Tafoya retired on March 1, 1993.

To his wife, Lucille and family, the IBEW extends sincere sympathy.