Oakland Press

A former school teacher and the first woman union organizer for the Michigan Federation of Teachers died after a short battle with cancer.

June Beth Fieger, the mother of attorney Geoffrey Fieger, died Monday in Laguna Woods, Calif. She was 79.

"She was a free thinker, a very progressive, literate, opinionated person," Geoffrey Fieger said Tuesday from California. "She was really ahead of her time in a woman's desire to enter the work force."

Roger E. Craig, a former state senator from East Dearborn in the mid-1960s and former partner of Bernard Fieger, June's late husband, worked with her in the school labor battles.

"She was easily the brightest of the Fiegers - and that's high praise. Those Fiegers are a bright bunch," Craig said from his Florida home. "She was teaching in Oak Park and got involved as a building representative, then involved as the president of the local district. She had a real flair for it, an old Walter Reuther-type. She was as close to a labor leader as the teachers could get."

During her time at the Michigan Federation of Teachers as the first woman organizer, she led strikes in Hamtramck, Benton Harbor, Dearborn Heights, Oak Park and other Michigan districts and colleges.

Earlier this month, Mrs. Fieger was honored by the Pontiac Alumni Association and the Pontiac School District, who named the "June Fieger Outstanding Teacher - Teacher Incentive Award" in her honor. The award gives an annual cash grant to a teacher from the district.

"Her genuine concern for other people had an effect on all of her own kids in helping us recognize the need to help other people," Fieger said.

Daughter Beth Falkenstein, a film writer who lives in suburban Los Angeles, said her mother's passion was teaching, even though she did it for only five or six years at Frances Scott Key Elementary School in Oak Park before she began working for the union.

To give one class a focus during recess, at the beginning of the year she told them she was the best jacks player around and was unbeatable. The students spent their free time practicing for the jacks tournament. One male student eventually beat her, Falkenstein said.

"She loved to impart knowledge and tried to help kids that way," Falkenstein said. "It was everything to help kids, to make them love learning. She wanted to teach them how to learn and crave knowledge.

"It would make her crazy at the end of the days. Everything had to be fresh and new. She loved to mold your brain. That was her favorite organ."

Mrs. Fieger was a graduate of Highland Park High School and Wayne State University.

Besides Geoffrey and Beth, Mrs. Fieger is survived by a son, Doug Fieger, the lead singer in the rock group, The Knack.  She is also survived by four grandchildren.   A memorial service will be held at a later date in California, her daughter said.

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The Pontiac Alumni Foundation, in partnership with the School District of the City of Pontiac, is pleased to announce the re-naming of the annual Teacher Incentive Award to the June Fieger Teacher Incentive Award. Attorney Geoffrey Fieger will make a formal presentation and a significant, financial contribution in honor of his mother, June Fieger, on November 7 at the School District of the City of Pontiac.

The Pontiac Alumni Foundation Teacher Incentive Awards are presented annually to recognize and reward teachers for their innovative teaching and learning experiences, which benefit students. The objective of the Pontiac Alumni Foundation is to provide an environment that gives each child in the School District of the City of Pontiac the opportunity to achieve his or her full potential. The concept of "certainty of opportunity" aims to enhance academic achievement for every student and ensure that opportunities for post-secondary education, training, or employment exist for graduates of the School District of the City of Pontiac.

This award recognizes an elementary, middle, and high school teacher from the Pontiac School District who demonstrates effective teaching methodologies that support improved student performances and show evidence in accomplishing their objectives. A total of three teachers will be selected and receive a grant award including public recognition.