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Dale Magee, Former District 6 Vice President, Dies
Luther Dale Magee, who rose from a Southwestern Bell repair technician to become vice president of then-CWA District 12, died May 15 of cancer at a hospice near his home in Arlington, Texas. He was 73.
Magee, who never missed a chance to walk precincts and hand out literature for Democratic candidates, joined CWA as soon as possible after going to work for the company in 1951. Earlier, he attended college, ran his own service station and worked for an oil company. From 1952 to 1954, on leave from Southwestern Bell, he served in the U.S. Army.
Magee served as steward, chief steward and president of Local 6203, as well as president of the CWA North Texas Area Council and the Lubbock County Central Labor Council and, later, area vice president of the Texas AFL-CIO.
He started working on Democratic campaigns in 1950 and was a regular public speaker, appearing on TV in support of candidates and bond elections and meeting with students at area colleges and high schools to deliver labor’s position on so-called “right-to-work” laws and other workers issues.
CWA hired Magee as a staff representative in 1971. He shared an office with Eugene “Monk” Monkres, who became his assistant in 1983 when Magee was elected vice president of District 12, which later became District 6.
“Dale started with the union as an officer in Lubbock back in a time when some people were afraid to take a union job because they were concerned about their future with the company,” Monkres said. “Dale wasn’t that kind of guy. He was an all-around good guy, a good Democrat and a good union man.” At Magee’s funeral May 18, Monkres said the minister apologized to Magee’s son-in-law for noise coming from a construction project at the church. “His son-in-law said that would be OK with Dale, that he’d tell them to go on working as long as they’re being paid time and a half,” he said.
Magee’s wife, Norma, said her husband continued to work for Democrats after he retired in 1988. When George W. Bush was elected president, “we nearly had to pick him up off the floor,” she said with a laugh. “He was disgusted. He didn’t think you could be compassionate and be a Republican. To him, the two things just didn’t go together.”
Magee loved horses and owned property where he rode and built fences and barns, his wife said. She and her husband were married 52 years. Magee is also survived by a daughter, Dani VanWig, and two grandchildren.
Magee, who never missed a chance to walk precincts and hand out literature for Democratic candidates, joined CWA as soon as possible after going to work for the company in 1951. Earlier, he attended college, ran his own service station and worked for an oil company. From 1952 to 1954, on leave from Southwestern Bell, he served in the U.S. Army.
Magee served as steward, chief steward and president of Local 6203, as well as president of the CWA North Texas Area Council and the Lubbock County Central Labor Council and, later, area vice president of the Texas AFL-CIO.
He started working on Democratic campaigns in 1950 and was a regular public speaker, appearing on TV in support of candidates and bond elections and meeting with students at area colleges and high schools to deliver labor’s position on so-called “right-to-work” laws and other workers issues.
CWA hired Magee as a staff representative in 1971. He shared an office with Eugene “Monk” Monkres, who became his assistant in 1983 when Magee was elected vice president of District 12, which later became District 6.
“Dale started with the union as an officer in Lubbock back in a time when some people were afraid to take a union job because they were concerned about their future with the company,” Monkres said. “Dale wasn’t that kind of guy. He was an all-around good guy, a good Democrat and a good union man.” At Magee’s funeral May 18, Monkres said the minister apologized to Magee’s son-in-law for noise coming from a construction project at the church. “His son-in-law said that would be OK with Dale, that he’d tell them to go on working as long as they’re being paid time and a half,” he said.
Magee’s wife, Norma, said her husband continued to work for Democrats after he retired in 1988. When George W. Bush was elected president, “we nearly had to pick him up off the floor,” she said with a laugh. “He was disgusted. He didn’t think you could be compassionate and be a Republican. To him, the two things just didn’t go together.”
Magee loved horses and owned property where he rode and built fences and barns, his wife said. She and her husband were married 52 years. Magee is also survived by a daughter, Dani VanWig, and two grandchildren.