RAY ANDRUS

1920-1996

A man who made a difference for organized labor in Texas and Washington, D.C., Brother Ray Andrus served in a variety of capacities in the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union (the predecessor of PACE) for 54 years. He also was a member of the Newspaper Guild for more than 30 years. 

In the energy field, where strikes were not uncommon, Andrus organized, bargained contracts, arbitrated grievances, lobbied legislators and performed community service. In the 1940s and 1950s, Amdrus led major improvements in the Texaco contract for workers. He interrupted his career in the Texas labor movement to work on the national AFL-CIO staff from 1959 to 1991, but then returned to help organize retirees in the Sabine Area Retirees Council. Brother Andrus was respected as a wide-ranging labor activist. 

Andrus was an active member of the Democratic Party and served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention as early as 1944. The Louisiana State graduate was married to Lurline Wall Andrus.