June Fieger: Union leader fought for teachers' rights
June Oberer Fieger, a union organizer who led the first teachers strike in the nation, died of cancer Monday at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif.
She was 79 and had lived in Laguna Woods, Calif., since 1997, moving there from West Bloomfield. Her son Geoffrey, a lawyer, was the unsuccessful 1998 Democratic nominee for Michigan governor.
Mrs. Fieger was the first woman to be the organizer for the Michigan Federation of Teachers and led the nation's first teacher strike in Hamtramck, her son said.
She also led strikes in Benton Harbor, Dearborn Heights, Oak Park, other school districts and at Michigan colleges.
"June was a passionate leader during those strikes, fighting fearlessly for fair pay and improved classroom conditions for the people who educate our children and leading her troops to victory more often than not," her son wrote.
Mrs. Fieger was born in Highland Park, graduated from Highland Park High School and earned a bachelor's degree in biology, then master's degrees in zoology and education at Wayne State University. She then taught fifth-graders at Francis Scott Key Elementary in Oak Park.
She joined the Oak Park local of the teachers union and became president, then eventually went into full-time union work.
This month, the Pontiac Alumni Association and the Pontiac School District set up the June Fieger Award to give a cash grant each year to an outstanding Pontiac teacher. Mrs. Fieger's husband, the late Bernard Fieger, founded the law firm his son now heads, Fieger, Fieger, Kenney & Johnson in Southfield.
Besides her son, survivors include another son, Douglas, a singer and guitarist with the rock group the Knack; a daughter, Beth Falkenstein, a writer for films and television, including "Mad About You," and four grandchildren.
There will be no funeral service.
Detroit Free Press
Detroit, Michigan
20 Nov 2003, Thu • Page 219
June Oberer Fieger, a union organizer who led the first teachers strike in the nation, died of cancer Monday at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif.
She was 79 and had lived in Laguna Woods, Calif., since 1997, moving there from West Bloomfield. Her son Geoffrey, a lawyer, was the unsuccessful 1998 Democratic nominee for Michigan governor.
Mrs. Fieger was the first woman to be the organizer for the Michigan Federation of Teachers and led the nation's first teacher strike in Hamtramck, her son said.
She also led strikes in Benton Harbor, Dearborn Heights, Oak Park, other school districts and at Michigan colleges.
"June was a passionate leader during those strikes, fighting fearlessly for fair pay and improved classroom conditions for the people who educate our children and leading her troops to victory more often than not," her son wrote.
Mrs. Fieger was born in Highland Park, graduated from Highland Park High School and earned a bachelor's degree in biology, then master's degrees in zoology and education at Wayne State University. She then taught fifth-graders at Francis Scott Key Elementary in Oak Park.
She joined the Oak Park local of the teachers union and became president, then eventually went into full-time union work.
This month, the Pontiac Alumni Association and the Pontiac School District set up the June Fieger Award to give a cash grant each year to an outstanding Pontiac teacher. Mrs. Fieger's husband, the late Bernard Fieger, founded the law firm his son now heads, Fieger, Fieger, Kenney & Johnson in Southfield.
Besides her son, survivors include another son, Douglas, a singer and guitarist with the rock group the Knack; a daughter, Beth Falkenstein, a writer for films and television, including "Mad About You," and four grandchildren.
There will be no funeral service.
Detroit Free Press
Detroit, Michigan
20 Nov 2003, Thu • Page 219
June Fieger: Union leader fought for teachers' rights
June Oberer Fieger, a union organizer who led the first teachers strike in the nation, died of cancer Monday at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif.
She was 79 and had lived in Laguna Woods, Calif., since 1997, moving there from West Bloomfield. Her son Geoffrey, a lawyer, was the unsuccessful 1998 Democratic nominee for Michigan governor.
Mrs. Fieger was the first woman to be the organizer for the Michigan Federation of Teachers and led the nation's first teacher strike in Hamtramck, her son said.
She also led strikes in Benton Harbor, Dearborn Heights, Oak Park, other school districts and at Michigan colleges.
"June was a passionate leader during those strikes, fighting fearlessly for fair pay and improved classroom conditions for the people who educate our children and leading her troops to victory more often than not," her son wrote.
Mrs. Fieger was born in Highland Park, graduated from Highland Park High School and earned a bachelor's degree in biology, then master's degrees in zoology and education at Wayne State University. She then taught fifth-graders at Francis Scott Key Elementary in Oak Park.
She joined the Oak Park local of the teachers union and became president, then eventually went into full-time union work.
This month, the Pontiac Alumni Association and the Pontiac School District set up the June Fieger Award to give a cash grant each year to an outstanding Pontiac teacher. Mrs. Fieger's husband, the late Bernard Fieger, founded the law firm his son now heads, Fieger, Fieger, Kenney & Johnson in Southfield.
Besides her son, survivors include another son, Douglas, a singer and guitarist with the rock group the Knack; a daughter, Beth Falkenstein, a writer for films and television, including "Mad About You," and four grandchildren.
There will be no funeral service.
Detroit Free Press
Detroit, Michigan
20 Nov 2003, Thu • Page 219
June Oberer Fieger, a union organizer who led the first teachers strike in the nation, died of cancer Monday at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif.
She was 79 and had lived in Laguna Woods, Calif., since 1997, moving there from West Bloomfield. Her son Geoffrey, a lawyer, was the unsuccessful 1998 Democratic nominee for Michigan governor.
Mrs. Fieger was the first woman to be the organizer for the Michigan Federation of Teachers and led the nation's first teacher strike in Hamtramck, her son said.
She also led strikes in Benton Harbor, Dearborn Heights, Oak Park, other school districts and at Michigan colleges.
"June was a passionate leader during those strikes, fighting fearlessly for fair pay and improved classroom conditions for the people who educate our children and leading her troops to victory more often than not," her son wrote.
Mrs. Fieger was born in Highland Park, graduated from Highland Park High School and earned a bachelor's degree in biology, then master's degrees in zoology and education at Wayne State University. She then taught fifth-graders at Francis Scott Key Elementary in Oak Park.
She joined the Oak Park local of the teachers union and became president, then eventually went into full-time union work.
This month, the Pontiac Alumni Association and the Pontiac School District set up the June Fieger Award to give a cash grant each year to an outstanding Pontiac teacher. Mrs. Fieger's husband, the late Bernard Fieger, founded the law firm his son now heads, Fieger, Fieger, Kenney & Johnson in Southfield.
Besides her son, survivors include another son, Douglas, a singer and guitarist with the rock group the Knack; a daughter, Beth Falkenstein, a writer for films and television, including "Mad About You," and four grandchildren.
There will be no funeral service.
Detroit Free Press
Detroit, Michigan
20 Nov 2003, Thu • Page 219
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