Dr. Irving Brotslaw – tireless activist, devoted teacher, and inveterate story-teller – passed peacefully on October 3rd at age 95.
Irving Brotslaw was a devoted labor educator who anchored the School for Workers in Milwaukee for more than thirty years. Previously a research associate with the United Papermakers and Paperworkers union, he joined the School for Workers in 1960 while finishing a Ph.D. in economics. In 1963 he took charge of the School’s office in Milwaukee, where he led a vibrant and politically outspoken team that, for example, incorporated discussions of the Vietnam War into its classes. From 1970 until his retirement in 1991, Dr. Brotslaw was the School for Workers’ only Milwaukee-based faculty member.
His work left a lasting legacy of worker education in Milwaukee, and developed networks and relationships that have continued under successive generations of union leaders and School for Workers faculty members. The work we do today in Wisconsin’s largest city takes place on foundations built by Dr. Irving Brotslaw decades ago.
-Don Taylor, School for Workers Director and Professor
A funeral service will be held, Monday, October 7th at 1:30 PM at Congregation Shalom (7630 N. Santa Monica Blvd. Fox Point).
Dr. Irving Brotslaw obituary
Dr. Irving Brotslaw of Milwaukee passed peacefully on October 3rd at age 95 after a life full of love, achievement, and pursuit of social justice.
He is survived by Elaine, his wife of 71 years; his children, Amy (Bruce) Schweiger and Dan (Lara) Brotslaw; grandchildren, Miriam Schweiger, Avi (Rivka) Brotslaw; Rebecca (Lt. Cmdr. Mitch) Hennessy; Shlomo Brotslaw, and Eva (Andrea) Brotslaw Tucci; and great-grandchildren, Maya Hennessy and Talia and Benjamin Brotslaw.
Dr. Brotslaw was active in the labor movement, Democratic politics, and the civil rights movement – if there was injustice to be fought, he was there – walking a picket line, running for school board to promote integration, and representing Gene McCarthy at the Democratic convention in 1968.
Dr. Brotslaw was an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin School for Workers, where he served as associate director until his retirement in 1991. Born in Buffalo, New York, Dr. Brotslaw received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. After serving in the US Army and a stint with the United Papermakers and Paperworkers Union, he returned to the University of Wisconsin, where he was devoted to teaching both undergraduates and labor leaders from around the country. After retirement, he served as an arbitrator for the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission until Act 10 decimated public employee labor unions in the state.
Throughout his life, Dr. Brotslaw worked tirelessly for the causes he believed in. He served as chair of the ACLU and the 3rd Ward Democratic Party. He served on the Goals for Milwaukee 2000 commission, the Manpower Commission, and was active in many civic organizations. He ran and narrowly lost two races for Milwaukee Public School Board in the 1960s, running on a platform promoting school integration.
Irv was also devoted to his Milwaukee Brewers, attending hundreds of games. He was an active member of Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun, and then later Congregation Shalom. He delighted in the accomplishments of his children and grandchildren, teaching them the finer points of a good game of gin rummy. In his younger days he jogged thousands of miles; later, he rode his beloved racing bicycle on trails around the state. Sidelined by age from street riding, he continued to ride his exercise bike until the week he died.
Irv was an inveterate story-teller and knew all the best Jewish jokes. He probably spent too much time playing Scrabble and reading the New York Times. He was deeply concerned that so many of the things he spent his life working for were being eroded in his later years, and was looking forward to voting for Kamala Harris. Two weeks before his death, he was overjoyed to gather with loved ones, dispense advice, tell family stories, and celebrate at his granddaughter’s wedding.