THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996 TAG: 9605120106
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
J.W. ``Bill'' Webb, who got his start as a Communications Workers of America local officer in Memphis, Tenn., and retired as a top CWA staff person in Washington, D.C., in 1987, died May 10, 1996, at the family home. He was 74 years old and had been battling cancer the last decade.
He underwent a complete laryngectomy in April 1985 for a malignant lesion on the vocal chords, and had used a mechanical device to talk since. He served as president of ``The Lost Chords Society,'' a national organization of laryngectomy survivors. Webbs's long association with CWA, a national union representing more than 650,000 workers in the telephone, broadcasting, newspaper and health care industries, started in 1940 when he was hired by Southern Bell Telephone Co. and joined the union his first day on the job.
After serving six years as president of CWA Local 3806 in Memphis, Webb was appointed the union's Mississippi director in 1954. He later served as a special representative in CWA's Atlanta office, before transferring to the union headquarter's office in Washington in 1963. His first assignment was in the public relations office. By 1964, Webb had been tapped to serve as assistant to a CWA executive vice president and in 1970, he was named assistant to the union's second most powerful officer, the secretary-treasurer. On Aug. 1, 1974, Webb was named executive assistant to the secretary-treasurer - a position he held until his retirement nearly 14 years later in 1987. Webb was a native of Hartshome, Okla.
Survivors include his wife, Ann of the family home in Virginia Beach; a son, James Webb Jr. of Waynesville, N.C.; a daughter, Shirley Baile of Frederick, Md.; and two grandsons.
Arrangements are being handled by the H.D. Oliver Funeral Home, Laskin Road Chapel, Virginia Beach, where a memorial service will be held on Monday at 2 p.m. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB