Larry Paul Weinberg

Larry Paul Weinberg, 79, former General Counsel of AFSCME and a labor union, civil rights and political activist, died March 6 at Fairfax Hospital, after a long illness complicated by Post-Polio Syndrome.

Mr. Weinberg was born in Washington DC on April 12, 1945. He moved to Detroit, MI with his parents and older brother Robert, when they were children. He attended University of Michigan where he earned both his BA and JD between 1963-1970. He was admitted to the Bar in 1971. Mr. Weinberg’s career at AFSCME spanned more than three decades. He came to the headquarters office in Washington DC in 1980 and retired as General Counsel May 31st 2011. Mr. Weinberg’s parents, Nat and Ruth Weinberg, were also labor union activists and organizers. His father was Director of Special Projects for the UAW and his mother, a teacher for inner-city kids, organized the first teachers union in Detroit. Mr.

Weinberg followed in their foot- steps. Colleagues and friends knew him as a deeply ethical and principled man. He spent his professional career working to support AFSCME’s stated mission—that legal and political support for public service workers at the federal, state and local levels is essential to a strong democracy. His work with AFSCME linked him with the civil rights movement and other progressive groups that protest all forms of social injustice.

His passions included politics, college basketball, cooking—he clipped 100s of recipes from the Washington Post and was a self-taught master chef—and driving fast cars. Mr. Weinberg requested a simple memorial attended by family members. Survivors include two children, Rachel Weinberg of McLean and Paul Weinberg of St, Louis, his brother Robert Weinberg and his wife Denise of Washington DC, and Robert’s three sons and daughter.