We mourn the passing of:
Retired Sound Technician PE Gary Dolmage, who was 67 years old, passed on April 15, 2017. He was a Local 569 member for over 18 years. Before Gary became a Local 569 member, he had a diverse range of work experience. Gary’s union affiliation began when he was just 19 years old, having joined the Teamsters Union. He took an Honorary Withdrawal to join the Navy, in November 1968. Gary served his country for the next 7 years, and reached the E5 level as an Inflight Technician. By the following year, he was working for the U.S. Forest Service, in “all phases of construction”. Gary stayed with the Forest Service for 4 years. In 1980, he channeled his interests toward being a television and video electronic technician, and 4 years later, as a fire alarm and security card technician. Gary came to Local 569 in August 1988, and began working for Construction Electronics. He would go on to work at Communications Company, and then again at Construction Electronics, in 1991, before going on Disability Pension in late 2008.
Journeyman Inside Wireman Clyde M. Schauer, who was 90 years old, passed on May 23, 2017. He was a Local 569 member for 64 years, having obligated into membership on March 11, 1953. By the time Brother Schauer began working through this Local, he already had a great deal of experience as a signman, for he began working as a Journeyman Sign Electrician in December 1952. For the next 12 years, Clyde worked for various sign and neon sign shops, including: San Diego Neon, Q.R.S. Neon, Sign Hangers, Inc., Martinolich Shipyard, Chula Vista Electric, Scotch Electric, San Diego Sign Shop, and Cal Neon. In the mid-60s, work was more plentiful in northern California, so Clyde spent the next 9 years in the San Jose and Salinas areas. By the time he returned to San Diego in the late 70s, he was a certified welder, and had secured the experience to be dispatched as a Journeyman Inside Wireman. In the late 70s and early 80s, if someone was a journeyman and a “certified” welder, one could practically be assured of a position, whether it meant working swing, graveyard, or day shifts for Bechtel at San Onofre. Clyde’s “workdays” ran the gamut! His last work stint was as a day shifter at San Onofre. He went on early pension in 1988.
Retired Journeyman Inside Wireman Joseph Dempe, who was 69 years old, passed on May 26, 2017. This year was his 40th year of membership. When Brother Dempe was just 20 years old, he joined the U.S. Navy, where he would spend 4 years, and attain the rank of TM3. His military training included basic electricity and electronics, torpedo, and nuclear weapons. After his discharge, he learned the silkscreen trade for 2 years, before he “tried his hand” at driving a truck for 2 years. By mid-1976, his dad, Hinton (who was already a Local 569 member, and had worked for many years at National Steel & Shipbuilding) Company [NASSCO]), convinced Joe that “Union” was the way to go! Joe began working at NASSCO in June 1976. During the next few years, the young Marine electricians, who excelled in the “yards”, would come to the attention of then Business Manager Frank Underhill. Frank would impress upon these promising “up and comers” with the better opportunity that awaited them, if they were willing (for the first two, or so, years of the apprenticeship), to endure a pay cut, and know that, eventually, the pay and the benefits would far outweigh shipyard pay. Joe was persuaded, and never looked back. He graduated from the JATC in mid-1983, and over the next 22 years, would work at: Arcon, Saturn, Bell Electric, (pre non-Union) Bergelectric, Chula Vista, Davies, Bechtel Corp., GES, and Freeman. Joe went on Disability Pension in 2006.
