International Operating Engineer - Summer 2015

In Memorium
Death benefits paid
May, 2015 - June, 2015
May 2015
Local 003
Alameda, CA
Tsuyosh I. Abe
Victor G. Baker
Jack C. Barba
Paul Dunn
Edward J. Heilman
Myrl Moxley
Seichi Shishido
Local 004
Medway, MA
Robert J. Okeefe
Local 009
Denver, CO
Warren B. Neal
Local 012
Pasadena, CA
Victor Anaya
Kenneth Atwell
John Birdwell, jr
Robert Cadwallader
Jose Corella
Richard Cuevas
Bruce Eaton
Enos Guill
Charlie Henderson
Jerry Hewitt
William Hofman
Cruz Longoria
Lawrence Matthews
Kenneth R.
Mcgee
Clarence Redelsperger
Hilliard Rowe
Dominick Scanlon
Glenn Schuster
C. Smith
Lee R. Thomas
Frank Tucker
Earl Wackerly
Curtis Williams
Isabel Yepez
Local 014
Flushing, NY
Robert W. Daly
Alonzo J. Howell
Sidney Miller
Angelo A. Palladino
Local 015
Long Island city,
NY
Richard Bernardo
Joseph Bonura
George N. Hill
Francisco G.
Martinez
Patrick J. Neff
Thomas Neville
Local 018
Cleveland, OH
Wilbur M. Barnes
Garey R. Crabtree
Charles F. Ellis
William E. Fiddler
William H. Glander
Alfred Krueger
August Mericola
William F. Patton
Donald J. Perry
Kenneth E. Richards
Carl J. Seifert
Charles D. Steele
Sam Thompson
Local 037
Baltimore, MD
Frank W. Dorer
Local 049
Minneapolis, MN
Harvey E. Fairchild
Joseph Huderle
Robert H. Rogers
jr
Clarence A. Schramel
Local 066
Pittsburgh, PA
Robert L. Hoffman
Stanley J. Spicher
Local 068
West Caldwell,
NJ
James Rouse
Local 101
Kansas City, MO
Roger W. Adams
Virgil Clark
Robert L. Hill
Ellis L. Keesee
Charles E. Mercer
Raymond R.
Moore
John Moran
Buddy Page
Local 115
Burnaby, BC
Richard G. Robison
Local 139
Pewaukee, WI
Richard F. Bean
James E. Coughlin
Leonard Hofmann
Martin Inda
Lawrence A.
Koepp
Willis Lande
Cornelius Norgaren
Donald Sayotovich
Marvin J.
Schmidt
Walter L. Scholl
Local 148
Saint Louis, MO
Bernard W. Riney
Local 150
Countryside, IL
Wm A. Cain
Robert G.
Charleston
Peter Delair
Alva Farmer
John W. Huppenthal
Richard O. Landis
William S. Martin
Cornelius W.
Mcqueen
Donald B. Mickelsen
Lewis W. Reeder
William E. Sharp
Dwight M. Shaw
Martin J.
Trampke
John I. Williams
Local 158
Glenmont, NY
R .Byrne
George C. Pine
Norman J. Simmons
Local 181
Henderson, KY
Burl E. Billington
Ulis O. Buford
Jimmy Campbell
Paul B. Mc bride
Ernest E. Murphy
Local 216
Baton Rouge, LA
Maurice J. Pecquet
Local 234
Des Moines, IA
Richard L. Smithart
Local 286
Auburn, WA
Harold P. Culbertson
Harry W. Desoto
Local 302
Bothell, WA
William A. Curtis
Robert G. Curtis
Robert E. Edwards
James A. Hasson
William A.
Ohman
Local 305
South Range, WI
Sidney J. Palm
Local 310
Green Bay, WI
Lloyd L. Drossart
Woodrow Ek
Local 324
Bloomfield
Township, MI
John R. Crain
Richard Golden
James A. Monroe
Richard Oldenkamp
Eugene E. Parker
Terrance L. Pride
Gerald A. Schultz
John Wozniak
Local 347
Dan M. Moore
Local 370
Spokane, WA
Jack T. Cleveland
Wm L. Oliver
Local 407
Lake Charles, LA
G .W. Myers jr
Local 428
Phoenix, AZ
James M. Hume
Local 478
Hamden, CT
Justin M. Layden
Alva H. Warner
Local 513
Bridgeton, MO
Phil Erzinger
Victor A. Herbst
Carl D. Nordman
Local 515
Leo L. Dick
Local 520
Granite City, IL
Howard H. Grah
Leslie J. Hemken
Local 542
Fort Washington,
PA
Louis Barnaba
Joseph Cappelli
Richard N. Edwards
Andrew Hawthorne
Jeryl Hoeppner
Woodrow A.
Reaser
Daniel C. Valerio
Local 547
Detroit, MI
Merle E. Barnes
Orville Noffke
Local 627
Tulsa, OK
Elwood Goddard
Local 701
Gladstone, OR
Max Middlebusher
Local 793
Oakville, ON
Jan M. Bakker
Guilio Iacoucci
Ronald G. Jones
Local 800
Bar Nunn, WY
Gus D. Williams
Local 832
Rochester, NY
Edwin J. Vankirk
Local 917
Chattanooga, TN
Kay White
Local 926
Rex, GA
Lewis D. Weese
Local 955
Edmonton, AB
Ernest J. Arsenault
Quinten Harris
June 2015
Local 003
Alameda, CA
Jimmie Allen
Fred E. Barrick
George F. Flagel
Richard Mcmurray
Local 004
Medway, MA
John A. Sena
Local 009
Denver, CO
John Paravecchio
Local 012
Pasadena, CA
J. Barry
Richard Corbit
Donald Macisaac
John Noriega
Jim Zavas
Local 014
Flushing, NY
Sylvan Mitnick
Local 015
Long Island city,
NY
Thomas J. Guinto
John B. Murro
William J. Novinski
Local 018
Cleveland, OH
Roy A. Cooley
John E. Frost
Orville Jackson
Alva W. Mercer
John R. Taylor
Stanley F. Workman
Local 025
Millstone Township,
NJ
Johnny T. Holden
Weldon Lane
Local 030
Richmond Hill,
NY
Wyler O. Michael
Local 037
Baltimore, MD
Robert M. Williams
Obituary: Fred Dereschuk Championed Workers’ Rights
FRED DERESCHUK made it his
business to fight for the working man
and woman.
“Fred exemplified what a labor
leader is meant to be,” said Vincent
Giblin, former general president of
the International Union of Operating
Engineers who served alongside him
on the international executive board.
Dereschuk, a longtime business
manager for the union’s Local 49,
served as vice president for the national
organization, which represents 400,000
members — mostly heavy equipment
operators — in the United States and
Canada.
He was a fiercely independent man
who fought to ensure fair wages and
working conditions for his members
while ensuring he could supply the
most skilled operators to contractors,
keeping companies competitive in
their bids, Giblin said.
“The organization owes a debt
to Fred Dereschuk for what he
accomplished for us,” he said. “He
certainly made the road a lot easier and
he certainly gave a lot of blood, sweat
and tears to this organization.”
Dereschuk, who retired in 2003,
died June 12 from kidney failure. He
was 86.
“He was a rare commodity — the
type of labor leader that’s gone forever,”
Giblin said.
Dick Ames, chairman of the board
for Ames Construction, often sat across
the negotiating table from Dereschuk.
“We had some terrible arguments at
the table,” he said, laughing. But the
two, who knew each other for more
than 50 years, were also friends.
“I knew Fred was going to be a
strong individual,” Ames said. “He
would be fair but he stuck up for what
he believed in and that was a fair
working environment for his members.
He represented his members as good,
if not better than anyone else, and I’ve
been around a long time.”
He was a simple, strong-willed
man who could be blunt and forceful,
and his “word was as good as gold,”
friends and family said. But always “his
purpose in life was to help the working
man,” said his wife, Jan, of Ham Lake.
A strong work ethic was the fabric
of his life with lessons first learned
growing up on the family farm near
Floodwood, Minn. His father was a
Ukrainian immigrant who was only 13
when he worked his way across Europe
after his family died during a typhoid
outbreak. After landing at Ellis Island,
Dereschuk’s father found work in a
Brooklyn bakery before heading west
to Minnesota.
It was there on the farm that Fred
Dereschuk found his roots as a laborer.
Off the farm, he found work in the
woods in northern Minnesota, the
wheat fields in Montana, and a peas
and corn packing plant in LeSueur,
his wife said. Eventually he became a
heavy equipment operator, working
road construction that led him from the
taconite mines in northern Minnesota
to federal freeway work around the
region.
Dereschuk, who joined Local 49
in the 1950s, eventually became the
local’s dispatcher, working his way to
serve as its president and eventually
business manager.
“He was the salt of the earth,” Giblin
said. “He never forgot where he came
from.”
“You would never find Fred in a
$1,000 suit,” he said. “You would find
him in a $250 suit. That’s who Fred was.
He didn’t change from the day he wore
the overalls to the day he put the suit on
to be their chief executive officer.”
And he loved the underdog, said his
son, Bruce, of Alamo, Calif. He “was
right out of the mold of a classic oldtime
superhero, a man who needed
a community to serve and to protect,
people to save, wrongs to be made
right.”
He is also survived by son Lee, of
Ladera Ranch, Calif.; two daughters,
Beth Hermansen of Coon Rapids and
Jill Hawk of Warba, Minn.; and 10
grandchildren. Services have been
held.
[article] By Mary Lynn Smith - Star Tribune
www.startribune.com
...Cont’d page 30
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