[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 1 (Wednesday, January 23, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E10]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN MEMORY OF DALE STORMER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 23, 2002

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
accomplishments of Dale Stormer, longtime labor leader in both our 
community and in our nation. Dale, who had a gruff exterior and a heart 
of gold, passed from this life on October 28, 2001. He leaves behind a 
lasting legacy of union activism and commitment to bettering the lives 
of our nation's workers. No one mastered the intricacies of health 
insurance and employee benefits more thoroughly or with more vision, 
compassion, and zeal.
  Dale was president of the Toledo Area AFL-CIO from its inception in 
1966 until 1973. Upon his leave, the union boasted 31,000 members. He 
returned after a two-year hiatus, serving as Executive Secretary until 
1991. In that year, he went to Chicago, where he is credited with 
saving the union's health and welfare fund. He finally retired to 
Florida in 1997, though his heart remained in his union. His eye was 
always on the underrepresented, the exploited and the needy.
  After being discharged from the U.S. Navy, Dale entered his life's 
work when he helped organize the employees of the Sears Roebuck and 
Company store in which he worked. In 1956, he became the head of the 
Detroit retail workers union, and joined the Hotel Employees and 
Restaurant Employees (HERE) in 1961. Dale first came to Toledo in 1961 
to serve the HERE Local 868, which had been placed in trusteeship, and 
he represented the union's members for almost thirty years. He also 
served the HERE international union as a vice president.
  His crowning achievement in organizing came when he was a founder of 
the Toledo United Labor Committee. This local consortium of union 
policymaking brought together the AFL-CIO, the UAW, and the Teamsters 
into a collective 50,000 members strong. To build strength through 
unity remains a hallmark of his leadership and acumen.
  In addition to his union activities, Dale also found time to 
participate on the boards of the local United Way, Red Cross, and 
Toledo Lucas County Convention Center. He was asked to serve on former 
Ohio Governor Richard Celeste's Advisory Council on Travel and Tourism 
and was appointed by former Governor Celeste to the board of the 
Medical College of Ohio in Toledo.
  His love of boating yielded him a twenty-year membership in the Bay 
View Yacht Club. If Dale ever relaxed, surely it was by boating on Lake 
Erie and on Florida's Caloosahatchee River. It was the one hobby in 
which he indulged, according to his son.
  A man of humble origins who led his union brothers and sisters and 
our entire community to a better life, Dale was a labor leader first 
and last, He leaves behind this legacy, along with cherished memories 
his wife Ruth and sons John, Don, Ron, Tom, and Tony hold close in 
their hearts.

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