Julian Modjeski, 89, Retired AA to District 4 Vice President

Julian Modjeski, one of CWA’s longest-serving activists, died Sept. 17 at age 89. Modjeski joined CWA Local 5503 (now Local 4603) after going to work in 1947 for Wisconsin Telephone, where he was a PBX installer most of his career.

A union activist from the start, Modjeski was elected local president in the early 1960s. He was named a District 4 staff representative in 1971, first serving in Chicago and then in Milwaukee, handling organizing and heading up Wisconsin Telephone negotiations.

Prior to his 1986 appointment as administrative assistant to the District 4 Vice President, Modjeski served as Wisconsin state director and area director for Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. Modjeski stayed active after retiring in 1987, serving as president of Local 4603’s Retired Members’ Council and lobbying state legislators and members of Congress on CWA and worker issues.

The Wisconsin Political Council remembered Modjeski’s political activism with a $200 donation in his memory to CWA-COPE. Modjeski is survived by his wife, Bonnie Murphy, who serves as the local’s RMC legislative chair.