Louis O. "Lou" Stewart (January 1, 1915 – March 26, 2002) was a prominent

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

leader in

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. Stewart grew up in logging camps and attended 23 different grade schools. Following service in the Army Air Corps during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he received his diploma from Weatherwax High School in

Aberdeen, Washington Aberdeen ( ) is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 17,013 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is the most populous in Grays Harbor County and the region's economic center, bordering t ...

. A

journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

before and after the war, Stewart entered the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

on the

GI Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, but the te ...

in 1950, earning a degree in

Industrial Sociology Industrial sociology, until recently a crucial research area within the field of sociology of work, examines "the direction and implications of trends in technological change, globalization, labour markets, work organization, managerial practic ...

. While attending graduate school, he went to work for the

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city government, helping to develop the first

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

system in Washington State. In 1960, he helped the territorial government of

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develop its civil service system. Stewart joined the staff of the

Washington State Labor Council The Washington State Labor Council is the Washington branch of the AFL–CIO. It represents all AFL–CIO affiliates in state politics, and its major interest group, particularly for Democratic politicians. The organization was split when several n ...

in 1967 and worked there until his retirement in 1982. During that time, Stewart was the Labor Council's chief state lobbyist in Olympia. A lifelong

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, he was a delegate to the 1972 national convention. Throughout his career and following retirement, he served on a number of boards and commissions, including the National Public Broadcasting Commission,

KCPQ KCPQ (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States, serving the Seattle area. It is owned and operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division alongside KZJ ...

Channel 13,

Group Health Cooperative Group Health Cooperative, formerly known as Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, later more commonly known as Group Health, was an American nonprofit healthcare organization based in Seattle, Washington. It was acquired by Kaiser Permanente in ...

, and the state's Centennial and Marine Employees Commissions. Upon Stewart's death in 2002, then-State Labor Council President Rick Bender said, "There was no major issue facing the State Legislature in the '70s and '80s that didn't have Lou Stewart's involvement, and he was known on both sides of the aisle for absolute honesty and integrity."

Irene Stewart

Stewart's daughter, Irene, was born November 29, 1957, in

, and raised in Olympia. She graduated from William Winlock Miller High School in 1975 and the

in 1979. In November 2003, she was elected to the

Seattle School District Seattle Public Schools is the largest public school district in the state of Washington. The school district serves almost all of Seattle. Additionally it includes sections of Boulevard Park and Tukwila. As of the 2021-2022 academic year, 10 ...

Board of Directors, District VI, which includes the

West Seattle West Seattle is a conglomeration of List of neighborhoods in Seattle, neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the List of neighborhoods in Seattle, thirteen districts, Delridge, Seattle, Delridge and Southwest, ...

and

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neighborhoods of Seattle. Stewart left the Board in 2007.

External links

''The Seattle Times'' obituary''The Olympian'' obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Lou Politicians from Seattle United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II 1915 births 2002 deaths Trade unionists from Washington (state) People from Aberdeen, Washington