Boilermakers lose three retired International Officers

Tom Kemme

Tom Kemme

Retired IVP-at-Large Thomas B. Kemme died Jan. 14. He was 71. Kemme was president of the Stove, Furnace, & Allied Appliance Workers International Union at the time it merged with the Boilermakers in 1994.

Kemme joined SFAW Local S105 (Effingham, Ill.) in 1954 and became the local's president in 1970. He became a vice president of the SFAW in 1974 and its president in 1981, serving as the top officer for 13 years.

As part of the merger agreement, Kemme became an International vice president-at-large in the Boilermakers, with responsibilities for the SFEAW Division. He was reelected to that position at the 1996 consolidated convention and retired Dec. 31, 1998.


Clay Parton

Clay Parton

Retired Northwest Section IVP Raymond C. “Clay” Parton passed away Jan. 23 at the age of 79. Parton retired Dec. 31, 1995, after 45 years as a Boilermaker member and 30 years as an officer and staff member.

He joined Local 656 (Chattanooga, Tenn.) in 1951 and later served as lodge president. In 1965 he became an International rep, and in 1970 was appointed special assistant to the International president.

In 1979 Parton directed the Boilermaker’s Houston organizing office. He was appointed administrative assistant to the International president in 1984, and the following year was selected to complete Clifford L. Stave’s term as IVP of the Northwest Section. He was reelected to that position at the 1986 and 1991 consolidated conventions


Jack Sloan

Jack Sloan

Retired Western States IVP John “Jack” P. Sloan Jr. passed away Jan. 19. He was 67. Sloan retired Dec. 31, 1999, for health reasons. He served Boilermaker union members for nearly 40 years.

A member of Local 104 (Seattle) since 1960, Sloan served as business manager prior to his 1978 appointment as assistant to the International president. As an AIP, his primary duties were in the Metal Trades Industry Section. He graduated from the Harvard Trade Union Program in 1979.

In 1980 Sloan became International vice president of the Southern Pacific Section, which was later merged with the Northwest Section to become the Western States Section. He was reelected at each succeeding consolidated convention, serving 20 years as an International vice president.

Additional Obits

Robert J. McDonough

ROBERT J. MCDONOUGH, 82, retired business manager of Local 1, Chicago, passed away June 16, 2006. Born April 2, 1924, he is survived by his wife of 41 years, Marie. McDonough joined the union in 1940, and served as a Local 1 business manager from April 1965 through his retirement in Dec. 1989. He was a trustee for the national health & welfare fund from 1966 to 1999, and served on that fund’s administrative committee for 21 years. “He was always proud to say he was still paying full dues, even after his retirement,” L-1 BM-ST John Skermont reported. “Bob would say that he was ‘retired from the job, not the organization.’”

James W. Moore

J.W. MOORE, 80, passed away Oct. 17, 2006. He joined Local 693 (Pascagoula, Miss.) in 1952, and held a series of positions before becoming lodge president. In 1976, he was appointed Intl. rep. He retired in 1997 as an assistant to the Intl. pres. and served as convention chairman of the Boilermakers’ consolidated conventions in 1996 and 2001. Moore received a Distinguished Service Award on July 25, 2001 — the highest award an International president can give to someone for service to the members of an International union. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Janet; daughter, Cathy; sons, Michael and James; 7 grandchildren; and 5 great-grandchildren.