In Memoriam: Robert Boston Barnes

Illinois Teamsters Remember ‘An American Original’

“Think American. Be American. Buy American.”

For anyone who ever met Robert Boston Barnes, those six words were never far behind. They were a lifelong mantra for the patriot who, after 61 faithful years in the Teamsters Union, passed away on July 11, 2011, in Wadsworth, Ill. He was 91.

“Bob Barnes was a Teamster through-and-through, who had more passion for the American worker than just about anyone,” said John T. Coli, President of Teamsters Joint Council 25. “As much as we mourn his passing and keep our prayers with his loved ones, we can take comfort in knowing he lived a full life and stayed true to the union all the way.”

Barnes joined Teamsters Local 301—the only local of which he was ever a member—in the fall of 1944 as a driver with Krema Trucking. His routes took him all over Lake and McHenry counties, the home of Waukegan, Wadsworth and Gurnee, where he’d make his own home for the rest of his life.

Nine years after joining the union, Barnes was elected as a trustee to the Local 301 Executive Board. Until his retirement from the Teamsters in 2005, Barnes served on the local’s board for 53 years, winning consecutive and usually unchallenged elections every three years. In 1963, he was appointed Vice President, before being elected Secretary-Treasurer and Principal Officer five years later.

“After Bob moved into the big seat at the local, things changed dramatically for the members, and for the better,” said Michael B. Haffner, Local 301’s Secretary-Treasurer since Barnes’ retirement. “He founded the local’s health and welfare fund, and was a founding trustee of the pension fund. As early as the 1950s, he saw the big picture and the long-term financial benefits that could be gained for the members by establishing pensions and investing wisely.

“In this regard, Bob was a guiding light for a lot of Teamsters,” Haffner added. “We can proudly say the Local 301 Pension Fund is still fully funded to this day.”

In the early 1970s, Barnes and the Executive Board invested in a new building at 36990 N. Green Bay Road in Waukegan. It became Local 301’s new offices and union hall, and continues to stand today as a central meeting place for Teamsters in northern Illinois.

By 1985, Barnes’ breadth of experience as a union leader was without question, and he was appointed to his first position on the Joint Council 25 Executive Board as a trustee. For 10 years, he served hundreds of thousands of members throughout the state before his appointment as the Joint Council’s Secretary-Treasurer in 1995. That same year, he was elected Vice President of the Illinois AFL-CIO.

Over the many decades of his Teamster career, Barnes was chairman and delegate on several construction councils, gaining wide respect throughout the industry. He served on the Building and Construction Trade Councils for Lake and McHenry counties, as well as Chicago and Cook County.

In 1991, true to his patriotic spirit and love of all things American, Barnes signed an agreement to ensure the Chicago White Sox’s Comiskey Park was built entirely by union labor. As a result, the ballpark was ultimately built below estimated cost and ahead of schedule. The name Robert Boston Barnes remains to this day on a commemorative building plaque outside the stadium.

“There was no one quite like Bob, and there never will be again,” said Coli. “He was a Teamster, and an American original.”

Barnes is survived by his wife Charlene, three children Pat, James and Nancy, 10 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

A visitation will be held from 4-9 p.m., Friday, July 15, 2011, at Marsh Funeral Home, 305 N. Cemetery Road, Gurnee, Ill. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, July 16, 2011, at Calvary Harvest Church, 5501 W. Stearns School Road, Gurnee, Ill.

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