William Joseph McCune's Obituary
Bill McCune died at his home in Oakland on July 8, 2013. Bill was born on March 2, 1949 in Springfield Missouri, where parents John and Gladys McCune went to start a farm after meeting and marrying in postwar Oakland. His family returned to California when he was a toddler, living in Marysville when he was young and moving to the Napa Valley for the rest of his school years.
Bill led a life of interesting, challenging work in many social justice fields, including union organizing, running a food bank and building affordable housing in Napa and Solano Counties. 'A life of struggle against oppression and social injustice is the best life to have lived'. He had two good strong marriages, and often said his greatest accomplishment was the raising of four amazing children; Caitlin McCune Vega an attorney and lobbyist for the California Labor Federation of Napa, Nils McCune, a doctoral candidate at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur in San Cristobal, Chiapas Mexico, and Elliot and Sam Starratt-McCune, current students at Skyline High school in Oakland.
He is survived by his four children, his wife, Michelle Starratt of Oakland California, his brother Tom McCune of Seattle Washington, two grandsons Oscar and Diego Vega, and his first wife, Lauren Coodley of Napa California.
Memorial Services will be held at Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland on Friday July 19th at 1 pm. In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS)
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