Owen F. Bieber
Owen Frederick Bieber, age 90, of Byron Center, passed away on Monday, February 17, 2020.
Owen had a long and distinguished career with the UAW. He served as International President from 1983 to 1995.
He will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 69 years, Shirley; children: Kenneth and Barbara Bieber, Linda and Mel Schumacher, Michael and Jamee Bieber, Ronald and Patti Bieber, Joan and Craig VanHam; 16 grandchildren; 19 great- grandchildren; one great-great grandchild; many nieces, nephews and cousins; and his beloved cat, Smokey.
Owen was preceded in death by his parents, Albert and Minnie Bieber; sister and brother-in-law, Marcelyn and Elmer Beck; infant brother, Norman Bieber, and daughter-in-law, Judy Bieber.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 am Monday, February 24, 2020, with visitation from 9:45 to 10:45 am at St. John Vianney Church, 4101 Clyde Park Avenue SW, Wyoming, Michigan 49509, with Rev. John Vallier, celebrant. Interment will be at Resurrection Cemetery. Relatives and friends may meet the family Sunday, February 23, 2020, from 2-8 pm at Matthysse Kuiper DeGraaf Funeral Home, 4646 Kalamazoo Avenue SE, Kentwood, Michigan 49508.
In lieu of flowers, please consider memorial contributions to St. John Vianney Church, or the charity of one’s choice.
Owen Bieber was born December 28, 1929, in North Dorr, Michigan. After attending high school, Bieber went to work for the McInerney Spring and Wire Company in Grand Rapids where he became a member of UAW Local 687 in 1948. He notes that his strapping 6’5” frame was a real asset during that time when his job was bending long heavy-gauge wire for car seats.
Bieber’s rise through the ranks in the UAW began in 1949 when he was elected shop steward. He became a member of the Executive Board of Local 687 in 1951 and was elected to the local bargaining committee in the spring of 1955. In the fall of that year he was elected vice president. By 1956, he was president. He served in this capacity until his appointment to the regional staff in the early 60s.
Working on the regional staff from 1961 until 1972, Bieber gained experience in all the key areas of the union’s work: as an organizer for the first three years, as a servicing representative handling General Motors and Chrysler locals among others, negotiating contracts with various smaller companies throughout the region, and on special assignments including political campaigns.
In December 1972 Bieber was appointed as assistant to Ken Robinson, who was then director. When Robinson resigned due to ill health, a special regional convention was held on December 12, 1974, at which Bieber was elected director. He was reelected at the union’s 25th convention, held in Los Angeles, California, in 1977.
Bieber served for six years as director of UAW Region 1D. In 1980 delegates to the union’s 26th Constitutional Convention elected him as an international vice president, and he was appointed director of the UAW’s General Motors Department, the largest in the union, covering more than 25 percent of the active membership.
In May 1983, at the union’s 27th Constitutional Convention in Dallas, Texas, Bieber was elected the UAW’s seventh president. He succeeded Douglas Fraser and served four consecutive terms.
Bieber, whose style has been called “patient, carefully planned, and low key” was an officer or member of many labor, civic, and governmental bodies.
He was a vice president and executive council member of the AFL-CIO, a member of the Michigan Governor’s Commission on Jobs and Economic Development, and a member of the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations. He was a lifetime member of the NAACP, and as a board member cast the deciding vote for Myrlie Evers, wife of slain civil-rights activist Medgar Evers, as the first female president of the NAACP. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the United Way of America, and a member of the Board of Trustees on New Detroit.
Owen retired from his work life in June of 1995.
Governor Jennifer Granholm appointed him to the Michigan State Commission on Aging, where he served for ten years.
Bieber, a lifelong Democrat, was very active in national and local politics. He served as a member of the Democratic National Committee and was a delegate to numerous national conventions. He was a chair of the Kent County Democratic Party for a term, and a longtime member of the executive committee, and was elected and served for many years as a precinct delegate.
As a devout Catholic, Owen held a deep religious faith and lived his life through it.
Owen was an ordinary man who got to do some extraordinary things, and his accomplishments show that. He was well grounded, and never forgot who he was or where he came from.
Owen Bieber’s life and his legacy will always be remembered.
For more on Owen Bieber’s life, go to:
https://www.mlive.com/living/grand-rapids/2011/09/profile_former_uaw_president_o.html