Greg Booth, veteran trade union leader and business manager of IBEW Local One, died Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012. Booth had been ill for some months. A funeral service was held on Aug. 30, 2012. Survivors: beloved son of William V. (Cheryl A.) Booth and Suzanne F. Booth, loving fianc├®e of Kim Nilson, cherished brother of Thomas B. Booth, uncle of Nicholas T. Booth and Dylan V. Booth. He was preceded in death by his daughter Amanda Ann Booth.

Booth, a 31-year IBEW member and business representative for 13 years, was elected Local One’s business manager in July 2011 by a two-to-one margin.

He was one of the most active leaders in the grassroots labor movement, serving for years as president of the Tri-County Labor Club, of which he was a founding member, where involvement in local political and social issues was at its zenith. If there was an important issue that involved IBEW Local One or the building trades, you would find Greg in the middle of it, not only giving advice, but actively engaged in whatever was necessary, picketing, handbilling, lobbying, etc.

Booth served as a steward, foreman and general foreman while working with the tools.

His first direct involvement with the union came in 1993 when he was appointed a COMET instructor. In 1994, recognizing this talent for leadership and relationship building, he was hired as a Local One organizer and was immediately appointed to the union’s Examining Board and Executive Board. In 1999, he was appointed business representative, servicing St. Charles, Warren and Lincoln counties, a position he held for all but a few months when he left his leadership position in Local One for personal reasons, only to come back and win election as business manager last year.

Active in local politics that mattered, Booth headed a group of St. Louis volunteers working in Iowa in the presidential campaign for then Congressman Dick Gephardt and worked on the successful campaign for Senator Claire McCaskill.

In the labor movement, besides his responsibilities with Local One, he was a charter member and president of the Tri-County Labor Legislative Club, founder and co-chairman of the annual Labor Tug-O-War, served as labor liaison for the cities of St. Charles, Lake St. Louis, Wentzville, St. Peters, O’Fallon and the St. Charles County’s Executive Office.

He had worked successfully to win Project Labor Agreements on almost every major construction project in St. Charles County, including the St. Charles Convention Center and Hotel, St. Charles County Administration Building, Ameristar Casino, Streets of St. Charles, and the city halls in O’Fallon and Wentzville.

Not compromising his civic responsibilities, Booth was a member of the Habitat for Humanity, St. Charles County Fair 4H and Barnes-Jewish Hospital boards of directors, member of the St. Peters Economic Task Force, president of the St. Charles County Board of Public Works, founder and chairman of Tri-County Cares for Kids, a member of the Missouri Housing Division Committee task force, chairman of the 2004 St. Charles County Road Board Initiative to Retain Funding and was appointed by then Governor Bob Holden as a commissioner on the St. Charles County Sports Authority.

Greg’s leadership will be missed.

May his Soul Rest In Peace.