Obituaries from page 61

WSU Scholarship Named For Labor Activist

F

riends and colleagues of Ethel
Schwartz, a longtime Detroit-
area labor and community
activist who died in May, will gather
on Sunday, Sept. 2, to celebrate her life
and honor her many public contribu-
tions. The event will also kick off estab-
lishment of a new scholarship in her
name for students in the Wayne State
University Labor School and Labor@
Wayne program.
Ms. Schwartz, 94, who lived in Novi,
was a co-convener of Gray Panthers of
Metro Detroit, an executive commit-
tee member of the Oakland County
Democratic Party, and a longtime
member of Office and Professional
Employees Union Local 494. She served
as an alternate member of the Metro
Detroit AFL-CIO delegate body, as a
board member of the Coalition of Labor
Union Women and as a board member
of the Metro Detroit ACLU.
Ms. Schwartz came to Detroit at age

of 2 with her family from Toledo. Her
House in Detroit.
father became an auto worker at the
In the early 1960s, Ms. Schwartz
Ford Rouge plant; and she remembered
helped organize and became the
him working seven days a week, 12
first chair of the Redford Township
hours a day for 12 cents an
Assembly for Human
hour at Allen Industries.
Relations. As a Redford
As a teenager, she
resident, in 1963, she par-
learned Yiddish and about
ticipated in a fair housing
Jewish heritage at her local
demonstration in what was
shul, and went on to get
then an all-white commu-
involved in the labor move-
nity; and she marched with
ment. In one of her first
Dr. Martin Luther King
jobs, at a Detroit grocery
Jr. both in Detroit and in
store, she tried to organize
Washington, D.C., where
fellow clerks into a union
he gave his famous "I Have
Ethel Schw artz
and was subsequently
a Dream" speech.
fired.
A passionate supporter
By 1940, she had been
of labor rights until her
hired by UAW Local 157; and dur-
death, she was a regular presence on
ing the next 48 years she served as
picket lines and rallies throughout
secretary for a succession of union
the area. Her activities also encom-
presidents. She later worked in the
passed the peace movement and she
Health and Safety Department of the
participated in anti-war rallies during
International Union, UAW, at Solidarity
the Vietnam era and later protested

KA2a) vot

HELPING SENIORS PAY TRIBUTE TO THEIR LOVED ONES

Temple Israel, in conjunction with its Robert Sosnick Family
Life Center, funded by the Ira Kaufman Chapel, presents the
15th Annual Kever Avot. This very special program provides
an opportunity for older adults in the community to visit the
gravesides of their loved ones. This program serves the
residents of assisted living facilities and apartments.

Spend Sunday September 9th remembering your loved ones.

Each participant will be accompanied by a volunteer on a
one-to-one basis for the morning.

To register or for more information, please contact Stephanie
in the Temple Israel Robert Sosnick Family Life Center at
248-661-5700 or email Stephanie@temple-israel.org

THE IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL

18325 W. Nine Mile Road Southfield, MI 48075
248.569.0020 • Irakaufman.com

62

August 23 2012

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Obituaries

rad

Making a difference.

U.S. military involvement in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Ms. Schwartz's two daughters, Judy
Vocino and Joan Wheaton, will speak
at the Sept. 2 celebration; and music
will be provided by her son-in-law Fred
Vocino and other musicians including
members of the cast of the jazz opera

Forgotten.
The event, to be held from 2-5 p.m. at
UAW Local 600, 10550 Dix, Dearborn,
is open to all who knew Ms. Schwartz.
Attendees are asked to bring a dish to
share during the celebration. RSVPs can
be sent to SSMeadows@ameritech.net
or telephoned to (313) 823-6220.
Tax-deductible contributions to the
Ethel Schwartz Memorial Scholarship
for Labor Education can be sent to
Wayne State University Fund Office,
5475 Woodward Ave., Detroit MI 48202;
write in the memo line IMO Ethel
Schwartz/Labor@Wayne. E

