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Tino Fulimeni, USW regional director, veteran
BEREA - Tino Fulimeni, 64, a former regional director for the United Steelworkers of America, died Thursday at his home in Berea. He had cancer.
For Fulimeni, being a labor leader was more than just a way to make a living, said his wife, Yvonne. It was how he expressed his compassion for people in need.
He was happiest when he could help someone get or keep a job. He took pride in his reputation as a tough negotiator of labor contracts, but he also had the ability to convince the most combative union members that the agreement he reached was the best that could be obtained, his wife said.
He was born Valentino Marino Fulimeni in Vestaburg, Pa. As soon as he graduated from high school, he hitchhiked to Cleveland to find work. He got a job at Republic Steel Corp. and joined the union.
He served in the Army for two years, then married
Yvonne, another native of his hometown. They settled in Berea, and he returned to the steel mill.
Upon his return, he started serving on union committees. In 1977, he became a full-time staff representative for the USW. His wife and labor activists said he had a reputation for sensitivity to the rights of women and racial minorities.
He represented 21, 000 steelworkers when he was elected director of the union's District 28 in 1994, but the next year it was combined with other districts in the state and the position was abolished. Fulimeni then was appointed special assistant to the union's international president.
Just before the presidential primary in 1988, Fulimeni attended a speech by Democratic candidate Jesse Jackson. He was so impressed that he introduced himself to Jackson and said, "You care for the working people."
That evening a worker for Jackson called Fulimeni at home and said Jackson wanted to spend the next night in the home of a steelworker. He asked if Fulimeni could recommend a host. Yvonne Fulimeni immediately offered their home, and soon Secret Service agents staked out the place. The Fulimenis gave Jackson their bedroom. The next day Fulimeni sat on the Parma Senior High School stage as Jackson gave a campaign speech.
"We didn't know how the neighbors would act, " Yvonne Fulimeni said. "But we had a fire in the back yard, and they crowded in to meet Jesse."
Along with his union work, Fulimeni was active in the American Legion. He was a post commander three times.
In addition to his wife, survivors include daughters, Teresa Collier of Ann Arbor, Mich., Victoria of Broadview Heights and Lydia of Berea; and a sister.
Services will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow at St. Mary Catholic Church, 250 Kraft St., Berea.
Memorial donations may be made to the Institute for Career Development Scholarship Fund, 1000 E. 80th Place, Suite 301, S. Merrillville, Ind. 46410.
Arrangements are by the Baker Funeral Home of Berea.
06/17/01
Joseph B. Lupica, 79, ran Kirtland greenhouse
MACEDONIA - When Zin Laisure retired as a tool and product engineer at Par ker Hannifin Corp., he found he still had to stay busy.
In 1993, he joined his son, Daryl Z., and a friend, Leonard Perry, and bought Aero space Design & Fabrication Inc., a local NASA contractor. In three years, the firm's staff more than doubled, sales tripled, and the market base expanded into a number of states.
After Laisure retired as chairman in 1999, the company was renamed Zin Technologies Inc.
Laisure, 76, died Tuesday at his home in Macedonia.
He was born Zinzendorf Penn Laisure in Cleveland. He graduated from East Technical High School in 1943. He saw combat with an Army ordnance unit in Europe during World War II. After the war, he studied engineering and design at Fenn College and John Carroll University. He worked for Bell Aircraft Corp., Brush Electronics and NASA before he went to Parker Hannifin.
He also worked as a reporter for the Cleveland Herald weekly newspaper and wrote a social column called "Man About Town."
Laisure belonged to Antioch Baptist Church all his life. He was a Boy Scout and sang in the youth choir. He later served on the trustee and senior usher boards. He was a member of the Prince Hall Masons Ecclesiastic Lodge.
He married
Marian L. Russell 47 years ago.
In addition to his wife, Laisure's survivors include daughters, Michelle L. of Denver and Deborah L. Poellnitz of Cincinnati; a son, Daryl Z. of Pepper Pike; two sisters; and three grandchildren.
Services will be at 9:30 a.m. today at Antioch Baptist Church, 8869 Cedar Ave., Cleveland.
Arrangements are by the E.F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home of Cleveland.
Memorial donations may be made to the United Negro College Fund, 25 W. Prospect Ave., Cleveland 44115.
06/16/01
Harold 'Dean' Lammers,
outdoorsman, official
NORTH RIDGEVILLE - Harold "Dean" Lammers, 56, director of personnel and human resources for the Cuyahoga County Department of Family and Children's Services, died Wednesday at EMH Regional Medical Center in Elyria.
He suffered kidney failure.
Lammers also had a private social-work practice and was an outdoorsman. He enjoyed boating as well as duck and goose hunting. A marksman, he was the only civilian member of the U.S. Coast Guard Pistol Team in Cleveland. He participated in motorcycle rallies and road tours of the Honda Gold Wing organizations.
He was musically inclined and participated in many community theater productions.
Lammers was born in Twin Falls, Idaho. He earned a degree in social work at Brigham Young University and a master's degree at the University of Utah. He served as an associate director of the county's Department of Children and Family Services and taught social work on the Eastern Campus of Cuyahoga Community College. He was a past president of the Ohio Welfare Conference.
Lammers married
Cathleen Parrish seven years ago. They moved from Lakewood to North Ridgeville two years ago.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by sons, Jason of Provo, Utah, and Brian of Orem, Utah; parents, Harold and Belva, and a grandmother, Freida Ross, all of Twin Falls; a grandchild; a brother; and four sisters.
Services will be 10:30 a.m. today at Gluvna-Shimo-Hromada Funeral Chapel, 3224 Broadway, Lorain.
Memorial donations may be made to the American Kidney Fund, 6110 Executive Blvd., Rockville, Md. 20852; or to Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland, 3601 S. Green Rd., Beachwood 44122.
06/16/01
Daniel L. Bratton, 68, directed Chautauqua Institution growth
CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. - Daniel L. Bratton, the man credited with putting the Chautauqua Institution back into the international spotlight, died Sunday at WCA Hospital in Jamestown.
Bratton, 68, had cancer.
"There's no doubt at all [his death] is definitely a great loss to the community, " Chautauqua board member Lillian Ney told the Post-Journal of Jamestown, N.Y. "He really believed Chautauqua was a place for intellectual, emotional and spiritual revival for anybody who walked through the gates, and he lived it every day."
Bratton served as president of the unique religious and cultural center from 1984 to 2000 - the third-longest-serving president in its 127-year history. He retired Dec. 31.
The Nyack native helped organize five conferences between representatives of the U.S. and former Soviet Union before its collapse. Two of those five conferences were held at the Chautauqua Institution.
"He believed we could make a difference, and by God, we did, " said Joe Johnson, the institution's vice president and treasurer.
His successor, Scott McVay, calls those superpower summits Bratton's crowning achievement.
Bratton also began major building projects at the 225-acre resort community, located 56 miles southwest of Buffalo. During his tenure, the institution's endowment increased by $33 million.
Upon retiring, Bratton became the first executive director of the Robert H. Jackson Center Inc. in Jamestown. The historical and educational facility is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the U.S. Supreme Court justice.
Survivors include his wife, Wanita, three sons and three daughters. His funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday in Chautauqua Institution's Hall of Philosophy.
06/12/01
Carl N. Freyman, 85, launched Cold War spy operation
Carl N. Freyman, an FBI agent who in the 1950s recruited a leading member of the U.S. Communist Party as an informant and began one of the most successful spy operations of the Cold War, has died. He was 85.
Freyman died June 3 at a hospital in Hoffman Estates, a Chicago suburb.
The informant he recruited, Morris Childs, became one of the key figures in Operation SOLO, a covert mission that lasted for nearly 20 years.
A native of Le Mars, Iowa, Freyman graduated from the University of Iowa law school. He opened a small law office in Le Mars after graduating, but the outbreak of World War II put a quick end to that business. He tried to join the Navy but poor eyesight made him ineligible. He applied for the FBI, which needed applicants with legal backgrounds, and was quickly accepted.
Fluent in German and Spanish, Freyman's initial posting was to Newark, N.J., where he questioned European immigrants for information on Axis troop and ship movements.
He also proved adept at counterintelligence work and agent handling.
Transferred to Chicago at the end of the war, Freyman continued his intelligence-gathering work and also showed talent as a top recruiter of FBI agents.
It was during the early 1950s, at the height of the Red Scare, that Freyman came in contact with Childs, who had been a leading member of the U.S. Communist Party and was, for a time, editor of the party's newspaper, the Daily Worker.
Freyman went to Childs' Chicago apartment and found him in poor health, suffering from a serious heart condition. Over a series of visits, Freyman appealed to Childs' intellect. Raising questions about Stalin's betrayal of Marxist ideals, Freyman noted that the Soviet and Nazi persecution of Jews only differed in method and scope.
He also appealed to Childs' growing concerns over his health and arranged for him to be treated at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where his health eventually improved.
"He cost us a lot of money at the time but he was worth it, " Freyman once told a reporter for the Chicago Daily Herald.
Worth it, indeed. According to the book "Operation SOLO: The FBI's Man Inside the Kremlin, " by John Barron, Childs made 57 missions to the Soviet Union, many of the East Bloc nations, China and Cuba.
He established relationships with some of the leading communist figures of the day including Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, who considered Childs a friend. Childs also developed close relationships with China's top leader, Mao Tse-Tung, Cuba's Fidel Castro and Romania's Nicolae Ceausescu.
Childs was present at the secret session of the Communist Party Congress in 1956 when Nikita Khrushchev first denounced the excesses of Stalinism. Childs was so trusted by the Soviets that one year he was named the recording secretary at an international congress.
But it was Freyman who set the wheels in motion for Childs' efforts.
"Carl was the one who decided it could become an operation into the Kremlin, " Barron said several years ago.
Operations SOLO was a productive intelligence-gathering operation until the late 1970s.
06/12/01
