Roger Stalcup, next to the file cabinets that contain his voluminous legacy as Secretary of the Review Committee and chief defender of the labor agreement with PG&E.
Roger Stalcup, who made defending the labor agreement at PG&E his life’s work, died October 10, 2013 after a long battle with cancer.
His sons Matt and Dan posted the following on Facebook:
“My brother and I would like to offer our profound thanks to all of Dad’s friends, who have had Dad in their thoughts and prayers; who have offered words of kindness, love, support, hope, and respect during this difficult time.” Their full post appears below.
Services will be held in Arnold and Troy.
Stalcup achieved near-legendary status in the union as Secretary of the Review Committee for his unstinting defense of the labor agreement at PG&E—a post he held for nearly 20 years.
“Roger’s contribution to the members of this union was so large it’s difficult to measure,” said Business Manager Tom Dalzell. “Many people working at PG&E today owe their jobs to him without even knowing it. The protections he won at the Review Committee and in arbitrations were truly extraordinary achievements.”
“He gave as much as anybody ever did to this union,” said Dalzell.
Stalcup was initiated into IBEW 1245 on July 31, 1966. Almost immediately he signed up to be a shop steward for the union. Around 1970 he was appointed to the joint grievance committee for PG&E General Construction.
Roger Stalcup, staff photo, early 1990s.
In 1972 he was appointed as GC representative to the IBEW 1245 Advisory Council. He won election in his own right in 1974. He used the position to berate the union’s leadership over what he saw as the inadequate representation of members working in GC.
After about two years of putting up with this, Business Manager L. L. Mitchell put the young firebrand on staff—representing GC. Mitchell was the first of five business managers to benefit from Stalcup’s intense dedication to the union cause.
Stalcup left the union staff in 1978 but was returned as an assistant business manager the day Business Manager Jack McNally took office in 1980. McNally moved quickly to put Stalcup in charge of the Review Committee. McNally explained his decision this way: “Roger was the most tenacious person I had ever met.”
Roger Stalcup and Bob Choate, probably the 1970s.
This July Stalcup returned as an honored guest to the Advisory Council meeting in Reno. Attending via Skype, he called his 30 years working for IBEW “a most rewarding career.”
“I wouldn’t trade a minute of it for anything in the world,” he said.
From Matt and Dan Stalcup:
Dear friends of Roger
It is with great sadness and relief that I have to tell you that Dad passed away early this morning. Dad passed in his sleep and did not feel any pain or distress. It was a very peaceful moment for him.
He could be a stubborn man at times and that did not change during his struggle with cancer. He was at peace with his life and the circumstances of his situation but that did not mean he gave up or lost his will at any point. He fought hard and hung on to life for as long as he possibly could.
My brother and I would like to offer our profound thanks to all of Dad’s friends, who have had Dad in their thoughts and prayers; who have offered words of kindness, love, support, hope, and respect during this difficult time. Dad received a tremendous outpouring of cards, messages, phone calls, and visits. They meant a lot to Dad and had an impact on him beyond what anyone could have imagined. The outreach to our father over the last 6 months has been overwhelming. It led to some life-affirming realizations for our Dad and lay to rest many of the demons that haunted our father for many years. For that, we are grateful to all of you.
Dan and I plan to have services for Dad in Arnold in the very near future and in Troy as well. We will probably wait until the spring to visit Montana and make arrangements for services at that time. We will continue to use Dad’s Facebook page to announce any information regarding services for Dad. We are already in contact with the staff at the Church in the Pines in Arnold; we hope to have more concrete information to share tomorrow night. Again, we would like to ask all of you to share this with those that are not on Facebook, who know Dad from Church, AA, his community, the IBEW, and P.G. & E.
Thank You
Matt & Dan
In 2007, from left: Bob Choate, Jack McNally, Perry Zimmerman, Tom Dalzell, Sam Tamimi, and Roger Stalcup.