Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
Retired CWA District 3 Staffer Lavie Bolick Dead at 80
Lavie Bolick, retired assistant to the District 3 vice president and a World War II veteran, died in Georgia on June 15 after suffering complications from treatment for kidney stones. He was 80.
Bolick was born and raised in North Carolina, where he was hired by Southern Bell in 1938, working as a lineman, cable splicer, installer and switchman.
He was a union steward and local president before CWA hired him in 1949 as state director in North Carolina, where he worked on many organizing campaigns. In 1967, he was promoted to assistant to the District 3 vice president, and was responsible for overseeing the negotiations of all contracts in his region. He retired in 1978.
Serving in both the U.S. Navy, as a Seabee, and in the Marine Corps, during World War II, Bolick was attached to the Fifth Amphibious of the Fourth Marine Division as a communications worker, his daughter, Sheila Yarn, said. He left the military with simultaneous ranks of chief petty officer in the Navy and master sergeant in the Marines.
Bolick was wounded three times and received a Purple Heart. Yarn said her father spent most of his service time in the Pacific and was present at the original flag raising on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. “It was one of the most memorable experiences of his life,” she said.
In his retirement, Bolick was active in his Lilburn, Ga., church, Pilgrimage Presbyterian, taking care of grounds, maintenance and other chores. After his wife, Edith, died in 1997, just shy of the couple’s 57th wedding anniversary, he designed and built a church garden in her memory.
In addition to his daughter, Bolick is survived by a brother, sister and granddaughter.
Bolick was born and raised in North Carolina, where he was hired by Southern Bell in 1938, working as a lineman, cable splicer, installer and switchman.
He was a union steward and local president before CWA hired him in 1949 as state director in North Carolina, where he worked on many organizing campaigns. In 1967, he was promoted to assistant to the District 3 vice president, and was responsible for overseeing the negotiations of all contracts in his region. He retired in 1978.
Serving in both the U.S. Navy, as a Seabee, and in the Marine Corps, during World War II, Bolick was attached to the Fifth Amphibious of the Fourth Marine Division as a communications worker, his daughter, Sheila Yarn, said. He left the military with simultaneous ranks of chief petty officer in the Navy and master sergeant in the Marines.
Bolick was wounded three times and received a Purple Heart. Yarn said her father spent most of his service time in the Pacific and was present at the original flag raising on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. “It was one of the most memorable experiences of his life,” she said.
In his retirement, Bolick was active in his Lilburn, Ga., church, Pilgrimage Presbyterian, taking care of grounds, maintenance and other chores. After his wife, Edith, died in 1997, just shy of the couple’s 57th wedding anniversary, he designed and built a church garden in her memory.
In addition to his daughter, Bolick is survived by a brother, sister and granddaughter.