{"id":4011,"date":"2023-11-14T14:59:01","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T19:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=4011"},"modified":"2023-11-21T10:09:21","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T15:09:21","slug":"remembering-ed-swierkowski-1952-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-41-no-9\/remembering-ed-swierkowski-1952-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Ed Swierkowski, 1952-2023\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4014 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/Ed-PEF.jpg\" alt=\"Former PEF Executive Board member and Council Leader Ed Swierkowski\" width=\"1200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/Ed-PEF.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/Ed-PEF-300x75.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/Ed-PEF-1024x256.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/Ed-PEF-768x192.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><em>November 21, 2023 &#8212;<\/em> Former PEF Executive Board member and Council Leader Ed Swierkowski passed away Nov. 5, 2023, on Long Island, surrounded by family. He represented members of Division 200 at the Department of Labor (DOL).<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Swierkowski, 70, of Merrick, leaves behind his wife Jeanne; children Lisa and Lynn (Chris) Dinger; and grandchildren Ryan, Brianna, and Avery, among many other relatives and friends.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Executive Board member Scarlett Ahmed was elected to the board at the same time as Swierkowski in 2015, both representing DOL members downstate. They often rode to Albany together for meetings.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cWe had many wonderful, hilarious talks and meals during our long trips back and forth,\u201d she said. During one trip upstate, Ahmed recalls learning her husband was in the hospital and how Swierkowski was ready to drop everything and bring her home. \u201cHe offered to drive me all the way back to the city, through a snowstorm, to get me home. That\u2019s a demonstration of how kind Ed was, to everyone.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As a union leader, Ahmed said he was always accessible.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cHe was an old-school rank-and-file union leader who believed in showing up in person to local offices as much as possible to talk to members and local managers to try to solve problems before they got worse,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was friendly, funny, and quite possibly the kindest person I\u2019ve ever met. Rest in power and peace, my union brother.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Fellow Long Island member and now PEF Nurse Organizer Nora Higgins also has fond memories of her interactions with Swierkowski.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cI met Ed when I became the regional coordinator (for Region 12) in 2015,\u201d she said. \u201cHe had already been a council leader and involved in the regional PAC. He would consistently show up early to help get things set up at meetings. He would only leave if everything was cleaned up and put away. Ed was the kind of person that would do anything for anybody, even if it meant the shirt off his back. Ed was a great and kind man who will be missed and remembered.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">View <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Ed Swierkowski\u2019s online obituary page <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dignitymemorial.com\/obituaries\/massapequa-ny\/edward-swierkowski-jr-11527601\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">here<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8211; Kate Stickles<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>November 21, 2023 &#8212; Former PEF Executive Board member and Council Leader Ed Swierkowski passed away Nov. 5, 2023, on Long Island, surrounded by family. He represented members of Division&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"division":[],"allowed_regions":[],"allowed_divisions":[],"class_list":["post-4011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-41-no-9"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Remembering Ed Swierkowski, 1952-2023\u00a0 - PEF Communicator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-41-no-9\/remembering-ed-swierkowski-1952-2023\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Remembering Ed Swierkowski, 1952-2023\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"November 21, 2023 &#8212; Former PEF Executive Board member and Council Leader Ed Swierkowski passed away Nov. 5, 2023, on Long Island, surrounded by family. 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