DECEASED — Retired Eleventh District International Representative Kenneth Sawyer, who grew up in small-town Iowa and went on to become an IBEW leader throughout the Midwest, died on Sept. 13. He was 92.
“He loved the IBEW because it provided a great living for his family,” said his son, Mike Sawyer, who followed his father into the Brotherhood and served as business manager of Des Moines Local 55. “He realized that when he was young, and like so many others, he was proud of that. It was the most important thing other than his family.”
Brother Sawyer grew up near Dakota City, Iowa — population about 500 — before moving nearly 200 miles to the southeast to Des Moines, the state capital, in 1951 at the age of 19.
He intended to work for Northwestern Bell as a phone installer. But, his son said, a friend employed by Iowa Power & Light recommended it as a good place to work, so the elder Sawyer tagged along to a jobsite on a Monday morning, looking to get hired.
The supervisor told him he was too skinny to be a lineman but offered him a job driving a truck for the utility, Mike Sawyer said. Kenneth Sawyer took it and became a member of Des Moines Local 499, a utility local that represented company workers.
The elder Sawyer became a groundman in 1953 and — perhaps to the surprise of that original supervisor — a lineman in 1958. Mike said his father was encouraged by a foreman he respected to get involved in Local 499. He did just that, serving on several committees and as chief steward, treasurer and president.
He moved into the office full time in 1967, when he was elected business manager. Mike Sawyer said his father enjoyed working in the field but realized he found a home fighting for fellow members.
“Ken had a lot of knowledge in the utility business and was the go-to-guy for information in the Eleventh District.”
– Former Eleventh District International Vice President Bill Eads
“He loved teaching stewards’ training classes, and he loved organizing people,” his son said. “He just had a knack for it, and he was passionate about it.”
Sawyer stayed in that role until he was appointed to the Eleventh District staff as an international representative in 1971. The district includes Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota.
Much of his work was with utility and outside locals and teaching steward training classes, but he serviced locals from all IBEW branches throughout the rest of his career, which ended with his retirement in 1998.
Bill Eads was the district’s international vice president by that point, but his relationship with Sawyer went back much further.
The two met in the late 1960s, and they worked closely together when Eads was business manager of Kansas City, Mo., Local 1613 and it engaged in a 110-day strike against Kansas City Power & Light in 1974.
The strike was ongoing while the International Convention was held in Kansas City that year. Delegates picketed around the KCPL building every day during it.
“Ken had a lot of knowledge in the utility business and was the go-to-guy for information in the Eleventh District,” Eads said.
Later, when they were both international representatives, the two worked together on a successful organizing campaign of the technical and clerical staff at Iowa Power & Light, bringing those employees into Local 499.
“We always had a good relationship,” Eads said. “Ken had been around the block a few times and was just a pleasure to deal with. Just an all-around good international rep.”
Mike Sawyer has fond memories of accompanying his father to Local 499’s hall, especially during the summer when school was out.
“When I was younger, he would talk a lot about the union and the good it did,” he said. “He loved it when companies sent in their high-priced lawyers for these grievances and arbitration hearings and he and the IBEW would still win. He really enjoyed that.”
In retirement, Kenneth Sawyer kept his home in Adel, Iowa, just outside Des Moines. His son said he closely followed IBEW matters and attended events regularly until the last few years, when his hearing began to decline.
“He told me well into his 80s that he wished he could still help the International organize,” Mike said. “He said, ‘I can’t do it because my hearing is gone,’ but that is something he absolutely loved doing.”
Besides Mike, Kenneth Sawyer is survived by four other children, two stepchildren, 19 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
The officers and staff pay tribute to Brother Sawyer upon his passing and send their condolences to his family and friends.
