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Retired District 9 Rep Arthur Wade Dies
Arthur Wade, a retired District 9 CWA representative, died Sept. 21 of lung cancer. He was 79.
Popular with local officers throughout the district, he was a driving force in organizing and in the union's political work. Said his wife, Ruth, "Art's life was the union and politics." He was very involved with the Democratic Party and worked for pro-union candidates and for legislation to benefit workers.
CWA Representative Val Afanasiev, a former Local 9409 vice president, said that as a rep, "Art always seemed to challenge the local in a positive way on various subjects, such as signing up members to reach 90-plus percent membership."
Larraine Darrington, administrative assistant to District 9 Vice President Tony Bixler, said Wade was an avid photographer of CWA events. "I'm told that in the district archives there are hundreds of photos he had taken."
Wade became a CWA member when he went to work for Pacific Telephone and Telegraph in 1947, after serving four years in the U.S. Navy. He rose through the ranks of Local 9415 in Oakland, Calif., eventually becoming president.
In July 1966 he joined the CWA staff and was assigned as a representative in Lansing, Mich. The next year, he was transferred to Beaverton, Ore., - part of the old District 9 - and over the years worked out of offices in Vancouver, Wash.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; and San Francisco and Burlingame, Calif.
He retired in March 1988 and lived in Gresham, Ore., at the time of his death.
In addition to his wife, Wade is survived by a son, Michael Wade of Hillsboro, Ore.; two daughters, Linda Fisher of Vancouver, Wash., and Kimberly Hagman of Tracy, Calif.; two stepsons, Michael Winkle of Portland and Gregory Winkle of Columbia Falls, Mont., and a brother, John Wade of Tulsa, Okla.
Popular with local officers throughout the district, he was a driving force in organizing and in the union's political work. Said his wife, Ruth, "Art's life was the union and politics." He was very involved with the Democratic Party and worked for pro-union candidates and for legislation to benefit workers.
CWA Representative Val Afanasiev, a former Local 9409 vice president, said that as a rep, "Art always seemed to challenge the local in a positive way on various subjects, such as signing up members to reach 90-plus percent membership."
Larraine Darrington, administrative assistant to District 9 Vice President Tony Bixler, said Wade was an avid photographer of CWA events. "I'm told that in the district archives there are hundreds of photos he had taken."
Wade became a CWA member when he went to work for Pacific Telephone and Telegraph in 1947, after serving four years in the U.S. Navy. He rose through the ranks of Local 9415 in Oakland, Calif., eventually becoming president.
In July 1966 he joined the CWA staff and was assigned as a representative in Lansing, Mich. The next year, he was transferred to Beaverton, Ore., - part of the old District 9 - and over the years worked out of offices in Vancouver, Wash.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; and San Francisco and Burlingame, Calif.
He retired in March 1988 and lived in Gresham, Ore., at the time of his death.
In addition to his wife, Wade is survived by a son, Michael Wade of Hillsboro, Ore.; two daughters, Linda Fisher of Vancouver, Wash., and Kimberly Hagman of Tracy, Calif.; two stepsons, Michael Winkle of Portland and Gregory Winkle of Columbia Falls, Mont., and a brother, John Wade of Tulsa, Okla.