Victor Fuentealba
{{Short description|American labor union leader (1922–2024)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Victor William Fuentealba
| birth_date = {{birth date|1922|9|1}}
| birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|4|17|1922|9|1}}
| death_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
| education = University of Maryland
| occupation = Labour union leader, soldier
| office = President
| term_start = 1956
| term_end = ?
| module= {{infobox military person|embed=yes
| branch = United States Army
| rank =
| battles = World War II
| unit = 83rd Infantry
84th Division
}}
}}
Victor William Fuentealba (September 1, 1922 – April 17, 2024) was an American labor union leader.
Biography
=Early life and military service=
Born in the Canton area of Baltimore, Maryland, Fuentealba attended Calvert Hall College High School and then Johns Hopkins University. In 1942, he joined the United States Army, serving during World War II with the 83rd Infantry Division and then the 84th Division. From 1944, he served in Europe, supporting medics in treating soldiers with combat fatigue. He was injured and captured by Nazi forces on April 14, 1945, but was freed less than a day later by advancing Allied forces. He used his knowledge of German to aid negotiations.{{cite news |last1=Quaranta |first1=Cadence |title='We still carry the battle scars': 100-year-old World War II veteran Victor Fuentealba reflects on Veterans Day |url=https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/world-war-ii-veteran-victor-fuentealba-HXSTRTEPEBEF3NDFX74QGCNWWA/ |access-date=29 June 2023 |work=The Baltimore Banner |date=November 11, 2022}}
After being freed, Fuentealba was treated for his injuries in various hospitals, then in 1946 returned to Baltimore.
=Labor union=
Fuentealba studied at Loyola College and then the University of Maryland, qualifying as a lawyer in 1950. In addition, he played both saxophone and clarinet, and joined the American Federation of Musicians. He was elected as president of his local union in 1956. In 1967, he was elected to the union's international executive board, and then in 1970 as a vice-president of the union.{{cite news |title=Victor Fuentealba takes helm of musicians union |work=AFL-CIO News |date=January 31, 1978}}
In 1978, Fuentealba was elected as the union's president. As leader of the union, he promoted live music and proposed a tax on blank recording media.{{cite news |title=A Musicless Day Proposed By Musicians' Union Head |work=New York Times |date=June 27, 1981}} Leaders of some of the union's locals became unhappy with an agreement Fuentealba negotiated with recording companies, and in 1987 he was defeated, in the union's first ever contested presidential election. He argued that unfair and illegal means had been used to influence conference delegates, and unsuccessfully called on the government to order a mail-in ballot of all union members.{{cite news |title=Musicians' Union Head Ousted by Dissident |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/19/arts/musicians-union-head-ousted-by-dissident.html |access-date=29 June 2023 |work=New York Times |date=June 19, 1987}}{{cite news |last1=Bernstein |first1=Harry |title=Sour Notes Heard in the Musicians Union |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-07-21-fi-5168-story.html |access-date=29 June 2023 |newspaper=LA Times |date=July 21, 1987}}
=Later life and death=
Fuentealba was also prominent in the Veterans of Foreign Wars, having joined in 1946, and rising to serve a term as the organization's judge advocate general. He also served 15 years as Maryland's judge advocate, and on his 100th birthday was still commander of the organization's post 9083.{{cite web |title=WWII Vet Turns 100 |url=https://www.vfw.org/media-and-events/latest-releases/archives/2022/10/wwii-vet-turns-100 |website=Veterans of Foreign Wars |access-date=29 June 2023}}
Fuentealba died after an extended illness at a hospice in Baltimore, on April 17, 2024, at the age of 101.{{cite web |title=Victor William Fuentealba |url=https://www.ruckfuneral.com/obituary/victor-fuenteabla |website=Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc. |access-date=12 May 2024}}{{cite web |title=Remembering Longtime AFM Leader Victor Fuentealba |url=https://www.afm.org/2024/04/remembering-longtime-afm-leader-victor-fuentealba/ |website=American Federation of Musicians |access-date=12 May 2024 |date=19 April 2024}}
References
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{{s-npo|union}}
{{succession box|title=President of the American Federation of Musicians|years=1978–1987|before=Hal C. Davis|after=Marty Emerson}}
{{end box}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuentealba, Victor}}
Category:American men centenarians
Category:American trade union leaders
Category:Activists from Baltimore