Memorializing Lives Lost in Public Service

NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA

On April 28 of each year, on Workers Memorial Day, AFSCME councils nationwide honor public service employees who died on the job. In 2000, the Minnesota Department of Transportation erected a memorial in the lobby of its St. Paul central headquarters to remember all 29 of Mn/DOT's fallen workers. And every year on this day, department employees around the state wear memorial lapel pins and share in a moment of silence to pay tribute to those colleagues.

This year, far from St. Paul in the department's remote northwest district, the members of Local 637 (Council 5) decided to pay special tribute to the three workers who died in their district while serving the public. With the support of management, they arranged to hold two observance events. In Mn/DOT's Crookston and Bemidji locations, memorial plaques honoring Merlin Fugleberg, Alan Larson and Roy Johnson were dedicated. Individual plaques will hang in the office at Thief River Falls, where all three worked.

Said Jon Hall, president of Local 637: "Each man exemplified dedication to helping the people of remote territories in Minnesota, where neighbors still help neighbors." He added, "It seemed the right thing to do — to honor them here in the district where they worked and died."