Submitted by: Dan Rich

Raymond H. Berndt Sr.

July 29, 1910 - Sept. 1, 2004

South Bend Tribune 9/3/2004

Raymond H. Berndt Sr., 94, formerly of Tanglewood Lane in Mishawaka, Ind., passed away from natural causes on Wednesday, Sept. 1. Ray was born in South Bend, Ind., to the union of John A. Berndt and Agnes Eichstadt Berndt. He attended St. Mary's Catholic School and graduated from the South Bend Business College in 1925. In 1931 he married Beatrice Miller, who preceded him in death. On Sept. 29, 1945, he married Rose J. Lukacs, and Ray and Rose enjoyed over 53 years together before her death in 1999.

Ray worked as a clerk and laborer for the Studebaker Corporation in South Bend, and in 1933 became one of the first members of the Studebaker Local when it was organized by the old American Federation of Labor. About two years later he was among the first workers at Studebaker to join the fledgling United Auto Workers Union (UAW), helping to form the new Local 5. Ray rose through the rank-and-file to become a shop steward, the secretary, and then in 1944 the president of Local 5, overseeing some of the toughest wartime contracts for the UAW.

In 1948 Ray was elected regional director of UAW Region 3, spanning Indiana and Kentucky. As regional director, he molded his office into a politically active and extremely effective advocate for the working men and women of Indiana and Kentucky. A 1955 issue of Fortune Magazine listed Ray as ".. the person you need to see if you want to be elected to political office in Indiana." Ray went on to play pivotal roles in the elections of Congressman John Brademas and Andy Jacobs, Senators Vance Hartke and Birch Bayh, and Governor Matthew Welsh. By the early 1960s, under Ray's leadership, Region 3 became the largest UAW region in membership with over 150,000 members working under nearly 350 union contracts. Ray always considered workers' rights issues and civil rights issues to be two sides of the same coin, and he gave his full political support to the early civil rights movement. He was the first UAW board member and regional director to integrate his staff, and he participated in the now-famous 1963 civil rights march in Washington, D.C. For his active leadership and years of effort in the civil rights movement, Ray was awarded a lifetime membership from the NAACP. When asked in a 1976 interview which of his many accomplishments he was proudest of, he replied that he was proudest to have been the one to introduce--and have then UAW President Walter Reuther successfully negotiate--fully paid health insurance for all UAW workers and their families. Ray said that it always brought a smile to his face when he saw a worker's hospital bill marked "PAID."

Ray retired from the UAW Board of Directors in 1971 and moved to Mount Dora, Fla., with his wife Rose in 1972. There he founded and for 15 years chaired the UAW Central Florida Retirees Council, a group that advocated for and defended the rights of retired UAW workers and their families. All in all, Ray's activity as a union member spanned 70 years. His life was long and full, and he will always be remembered as a tough and dedicated defender of the ordinary working man and woman.

Ray and Rose moved back to Mishawaka in 1998 to be near family.

Surviving Ray to cherish his memory are two sons from his marriage to Rose, Raymond H. Berndt Jr. and his wife, Maureen Muldoon of South Bend, Ind., and Charles J. Berndt and his wife, Kate of Indianapolis, Ind.; and two children from his marriage to Beatrice: a son, Denis L. Berndt and his wife, Mary, and a daughter, Judith Hartgove, and her husband, Tom, all of South Bend. Ray also leaves behind five nephews, Frank Nagy and Philip Berndt, both of South Bend, David Nagy of Shave Head Lake, Mich., Jack Nagy of High Point, N.C., and James Nagy of Carmel, Ind.; and four nieces, Norma Nagy Aulwurm of Granger, Ind., Barbara Nagy Daugherty of Redlands, Calif., Collette Berndt Wooley of South Bend and Janice Berndt Manges of Wichita, Kan. Ray is also survived by 11 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

Preceding Ray in death were his brothers, John, Albert and Eugene; his sister, Irene Berndt Smith; and two children from his marriage to Beatrice, Edward W. Berndt and Dorothy Lowman.

The Zahoran Funeral Home, 1826 Kemble Ave., South Bend, is handling arrangements. Friends and family may call in the funeral home from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. today. A Rosary will be said at 7 p.m. in the funeral home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Our Lady of Hungary Catholic Church. Graveside services and interment will take place at Highland Cemetery immediately after the Mass.