Patrick E. Gorman: 1892–1980
P
at Gorman was born in Louisville, Kentucky on November 27, 1892. Even though he traveled far and beyond he remained a life long resident of Louisville. He was laid to rest at the Calvary Cemetery in 1980.
For more than half-a-century Gorman was “Mr. Amalgamated.” He had started his union career as a business agent for Local 227 in Louisville in 1912, and by 1923 he was already—at age 30!—president of the International union. In the interim nine years, he had served as a special organizer and as a general vice president of the International.
In 1942, Gorman was elected International Secretary-Treasurer, and he held the post until 1976 when he became chairman of the board. After the merger with the Retail Clerks that created the UFCW, the “grand old man” was named chairman of the board emeritus, a title he held until his death.
“It is literally impossible to recite all of Gorman’s outstanding contributions. At the bottom line, when it comes to Pat Gorman, he was an institution. There have been very few men like him,” International President Bill Wynn said.
Wynn added that “one of Gorman’s contributions, however, must be singled out. He was a believer in a strong union and a strong house of labor. As such, he firmly supported the merger of the Amalgamated and the Retail Clerks, and this support was unquestionably of major importance in the creation of the UFCW.”
Gorman was an exceedingly talented and versatile individual. In the words of the Amalgamated historian Hilton Hanna, Gorman was “lawyer, song writer, essayist, religious devotee humanitarian, maverick, rebel-crusader, educator, and world citizen.” He was all these things and more and he was superb at every task and creative role he set for himself.