death_place death_date children birth_place religion parents birth_date spouse article_title name occupation
washington , district of columbia , u.s. 10 december 1981 two daughters , one son new york city , new york , u.s. jewish sigmund and lena -lrb- tannenbaum -rrb- wurf 18 may 1919 sylvia -lrb- kiefer -rrb- wurf -lrb- spinrad -rrb- wurf -lrb- divorced -rrb- mildred jerome wurf
 jerome wurf union leader
jerome wurf

jerome `` jerry '' wurf -lrb- may 18 , 1919 -- december 10 , 1981 -rrb- was a u.s. labor leader and president of the american federation of state , county and municipal employees -lrb- afscme -rrb- from 1964 to 1981 .
wurf was a friend of martin luther king jr. , and was arrested multiple times for his activism , notably during the memphis sanitation strike and was released just in time to hear martin luther king jr 's ` i 've been to the mountaintop ' oratory at the strike , assassination the next day , and attend his funeral .
