In Memoriam, Martha True

This is a follow up to the announcement of the death of Martha True, fomer Secretary Treasurer
of the Georgia AFL-CIO. Her obituary and details of the Memorial Service are below:

Family-Placed Death Notice

Martha True, age 84, of Douglasville, Ga., died November 2, 2008, at home with her family by her side. The family would like to thank Altus Hospice in Villa Rica, Ga. for helping to make her final days as comfortable as possible. Martha was the daughter of the late Lutch and Maggie Dickens of Nashville, TN. She was of Baptist faith. She was preceded in death by her husband Marshall True and son Danny True. She is survived by a son Michael True of Florida; daughters Judy Blair of Roswell and Jean McDowell of Douglasville. Martha has 12 grandchildren, numerous great- grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.

Martha was born in Millersville, TN on May 11th, 1924. She was a member of Organized Labor for many years. She began her labor career at Southern Bell Telephone Co. in 1951 in Nashville, TN., joining Local 3803 of Communications Workers of America. In 1956, Martha transferred to Southern Bell in Atlanta and to CWA Local 3204. She served as a Union Steward until 1957, when she was appointed to an unexpired term as Vice President of Local 3204. In 1958, Martha was elected Vice President and served in that position for 10 years. She was elected President of Local 3204 in 1968, the 1st woman to hold that office. In 1972, she was appointed by the Georgia State AFL- CIO to serve an unexpired term as Secretary and was reelected for 4 consecutive terms. Martha also held membership in Lodge 2 of the International Association of Machinists.

Politically active for many years, Martha served on the State Committee of the Georgia Democratic Party and was a member of the DeKalb County Democratic Party. Martha's leadership in the community was evidenced by her membership in numerous boards and committees. She was chairman of the DeKalb County Board of Appeals a member of the Steering Committee of the NLRB, chairman of the Advisory Council of Private Employment Agencies for the State Labor Department, member of the Advisory Council Georgia Division American Red Cross, United Appeal, and the Atlanta Association of Retarded Citizens. She also served on the Communications committee of the Southern Labor History Association, and on the Advisory Council of the Labor Studies Program at Georgia State University. In 1984, Martha made a decision to donate her body to Emory University School of Medicine, for research. In 1991, she retired at the age of 67.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation to: Emory School of Medicine Body Donor Program P.O. Drawer AR Atlanta, GA 30322. Memorial services will be Monday Nov. 17, 2008 at 6pm at IBEW Building, 501 Pulliam St. Atlanta.

Yours for peace and solidarity,

Charlie Key