His father was killed in those mines when Carl was 3½ years old and his mother pregnant with the couple’s eighth child. The accident came a few years after the elder Lansden lost his right hand in another coal-mining incident, but the family’s financial status and lack of social safety net forced him to return to work.

“One thing he could remember about his dad was driving on those winding country roads and instead of grabbing the steering wheel with his good hand, he always used his hook [prosthetic],” said Carl Hugh Lansden, Lansden’s son. “That always stuck with him.”

Not long after his father’s death, Lansden’s mother, Bertha, moved with her children to Knoxville, Tenn., where most of her family was living. She worked for a time in a sweatshop while raising her children in a dirt-floor house before later opening her own successful restaurant in downtown Knoxville, Carl Hugh said.

“If there was ever anyone that I’ve seen find their calling, it was my father.”

_{– Carl Hugh Lansden, Brother Lansden’s son}

“She was a such a special person,” he said.

The toughness and tenacity of both parents rubbed off on Lansden.

He took part in boxing during a brief stint in the Marine Corps before being discharged after he was found to be too young to serve, his son said. He later served in the Navy during the Korean War before returning home and being hired as a pump operator by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1954.

One year later, he was named the assistant unit operator at the TVA’s John Sevier plant, and Lansden became a member of Knoxville Local 365 in 1956.

He quickly got involved in his home local. Lansden served in various roles for Local 365, including president and assistant business manager, from 1956-1976, all while continuing his career at the TVA.

He was brought on to the Twelfth District staff as an international representative in 1976. He was appointed Twelfth District vice president in 1989 and was reelected three times. The jurisdiction was changed to the Tenth District during his tenure and covers Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Lansden had duties across all sectors of the Brotherhood but was particularly well regarded in two areas.

First, he was especially effective in representing interests in arbitration cases. Although he never graduated, he studied law in night-school classes at the University of Tennessee for several years. His son said he took pride in beating company lawyers from prestigious law schools during those hearings.

Second, he had a deep understanding of the TVA, a major employer of IBEW members in the South since its founding in 1933.

Retired Tenth District International Representative James Springfield said Lansden made sure the IBEW’s importance was respected by TVA management while other building trades employed there fought among each other. Contract negotiations with the TVA were often tense, but there was respect on both sides.

“He went in with an iron fist. … But he was always good at the political side of things,” Springfield said. “We’ve had good relations with the TVA and its board of directors and he maintained that, but he didn’t do it at the membership’s expense. He came in when we needed someone like that.”

The IBEW’s strong ties with the TVA continue today. Robert “Bobby” Klein, who succeeded Lansden as Tenth District international vice president and served in the role until his own retirement in 2015, now serves on the TVA board.

“He was a mentor to me and helped me get the opportunities I had in the IBEW,” Klein said. “He was a good man, a good labor leader and very knowledgeable.”

Current Tenth District International Vice President Brent Hall was brought on staff by Lansden as an international representative in 2002. He was Lansden’s last hire before his retirement the following year.

Hall said Lansden reminded him of his own father. Both were union leaders. Hall’s father was a vice president in the Amalgamated Transit Union. Both were often quiet and could be tough on those close to them.

But they always rewarded those same people for a job well done.

“He could be the kindest person in the world or your own worst enemy,” Hall said. “He was hard-nosed. When he walked into a room, everyone knew who was coming in.”

Indeed, Hall and others remembered then-Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen going out of his way to greet Lansden at any event the two attended.

“There could be a crowd of 300 or 400 people,” Springfield said. “He would walk right over and the first person he would shake hands with was Carl Lansden.”

In retirement, Brother Lansden ran for a seat in the Tennessee Senate and invested in real estate. He also was a member of the Freemasons. His wife, Barbara, died in 2013.

Carl Hugh said his father found the perfect career for him as a labor and IBEW leader.

“If there was ever anyone that I’ve seen find their calling, it was my father,” he said. “He found his true calling and took it to the highest levels.”

The officers and staff extend their condolences to Brother Lansden’s family and friends during this difficult time and remember him for his many years of service.