William J. Olwell, labor leader
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William J. Olwell, a Seattle labor activist who became executive vice president of the 1.4 million-member United Food and Commercial Workers international union (UFCW) in Seattle and Washington, D.C., brought a glib, idealistic intensity to his work.
"The outspoken Olwell appears forever ready to take on the windmill," wrote a Seattle Times labor editor in 1978, the year Mr. Olwell moved to Washington, D.C., to become national director of his union's active-ballot club and community-service department. "More often than not he is at the center of the storm."
Mr. Olwell died Friday (Feb. 9) at his home in Washington, D.C., of respiratory failure related to complications of lung-transplant surgery. He was 66.
While in Seattle as head of the retail clerks' local - the 11,500-member Local 1001, Retail Store Employees - he helped secure contracts after strikes in the 1970s and 1980s. He also made efforts to organize insurance and bank workers.
Born in Seattle and raised on Capitol Hill, he attended O'Dea High School. After serving in the Army during the Korean War, he earned a bachelor of arts degree in industrial relations at Seattle University in 1959.
"When he was growing up, his main interest was tuning in to President Roosevelt's Fireside (radio) Chats," said his brother, David Olwell of Seattle. "Bill was liberal, and the rest of the family was Republican, so there was some pretty heated conversation about this at the dinner table."
He had joined the Seattle Retail Clerks Local 1001 in 1953 while working as a grocery clerk at an old Lucky's supermarket. From 1959 to 1968, he was a union representative for Local 1001.
Mr. Olwell was elected president of the local in 1968, serving until 1978. He became international vice president of the Retail Clerks International Association in 1972.
His move to Washington, D.C., in 1978 let him travel throughout North America and, as he said, "listen more (to union people) and reflect their desires and dreams in our support and our priorities."
He was involved in political activities for governors and state legislators and for executives of large cities and counties, including Seattle and King County.
Mr. Olwell was a past president of the King County Labor Council, a director of the International Foundation of Employee Benefits and on the advisory council of the American Arbitration Association.
From 1992 to 1995 he served as a board member and president of Whitman Walker Clinic, a Washington, D.C. facility specializing in AIDS research and services.
Mr. Olwell is survived by his 35-year companion, Eddie Miller, Washington, D.C.; a brother, David Olwell, Seattle; aunts Nora Flannery, Spokane, and Kathleen Mead and Betty Ann Becker, Seattle; and cousin Mark Mead, Washington, D.C.
Mass was said yesterday in Washington, D.C. Seattle services will be at 11:30 a.m. March 14 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 732 18th Ave. E. Donations may go to the Whitman Walker Clinic, 1407 S St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009.
Carole Beers' e-mail address is cbeers@seattletimes.com.