In 1953, Earl Laub was a 20-year-old weaver at the Marvel Maid Manufacturers at 370 Conestoga St. in Bethlehem. That year the International Ladies 'Garment Workers' Union (ILGUW) identified Laub as someone who knew how to get along with everyone. He was likable, a quick learner and a great candidate for the union's management training program.

During Laub's career with the union he would see it go from the largest labor union to represent workers in the women's garment industry in the United States and Canada to a slow decline of membership due to foreign imports. Garment manufacturing went the way of most other manufacturing in the United States, during the 1970s.

Beginning in 1975, the ILGWU tried to fight the declining sales of U.S. made garments with promoting its Union Label in every media format. Laub's friends and acquaintances still tell stories of his stopping anyone he met to check their clothing label. His demeanor may have been jovial but Laub was deadly serious about the importance of buying U.S. made clothing. He knew people's jobs were dependent upon those sales.

Laub quickly moved up the ranks of ILGWU eventually becoming district manager of Local 234, Easton District Council, which represented 7,000 members in the Northampton County area, in the 1980s. He worked out of his office at 111 N. 4th St. in Easton. Laub was a part of the team that successfully negotiated a 7 percent raise for members working in the Atlantic Apparel Contractors Association mills, including all of the mills in the Lehigh Valley, in 1984. He knew how to reach out to local politicians with a well-attended clambake that was always scheduled just before every local election. Sen. Lisa Boscola remembered Earl Laub from early in her career.

"Earl was a leader in the Lehigh Valley Labor movement due to the number of garment factories that once populated the Lehigh Valley," she said. "I began my political career in 1994, when I first ran for state representative and Earl was still with the ILGWU. His input, on issues of importance to his members and all working families, meant a great deal to me.

"It was hard on us all when we saw what international trade did the garment industry here in Eastern Pennsylvania," Boscola continued. "Earl fought for his members by trying to voice how shortsighted these policies were to the workers of our region. It will be his commitment to fighting to make lives better for working families that will be Earl's legacy."

Dorothy Laub, Earl's wife, spoke about the compassion that her husband felt for the garment workers. She remembered Earl receiving a call from a union member one August night at home. The woman asked if he could help with a problem that was not covered under the workers' contract. The factory where she worked was a huge early 1900s building. It was too expensive for the owners to air condition. The managers had set up large fans but they ineffectively pushed around the hot humid air. She asked her supervisor if they could open a few of the many windows but the request was denied. The very next morning, the employees were greeted with fresh air pouring in through the open windows.

Laub's best friend, Larry Kisslinger, described Laub in this way, "He was a saint. He knew every member of his union and cared about each one of them."

Laub also gave his time to local charities and community positions. He was president of the Bethlehem School Board and also served as a trustee of the YMCA, The March of Dimes and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Dorothy and Earl met at the Marvel Maid Manufacturers. Dorothy worked in the office. They lived only a few blocks from each other in Bethlehem but had never met. They married in 1955 and raised three children in Bethlehem. After two consecutive snowstorms dumped a total of 18 inches of snow on Bethlehem in February of 1994, Earl told Dorothy, "I'm tired of shoveling snow. Its time we retired to Florida."

They moved to Winter Haven, Fla., in 1995 where they enjoyed the warm weather and golf. After a lifetime of abstaining from smoking, Earl Laub died Sept. 25, 2014 of lung cancer.