Students funded in memory of Sudbury labour icon Homer Seguin – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – August 27, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

A day doesn’t go by that Dan Seguin doesn’t think of his father, Homer Seguin, and the work he did over several decades to improve the health and safety of workers on the job.

Two students at the Centre in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH) at Laurentian University will carry on the work of the elder Seguin, in part with bursaries funded by donations pledged after Homer Seguin died April 26.

Seguin, 79, died after years of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and eventually lung cancer, partly due to his early days working in Inco’s storied — and deadly — sintering plant.

During his last days spent at Ramsey Lake Health Centre, Seguin expressed his desire for a new generation to carry on the work that was his passion for 60 years.

His son and four daughters heard that message and asked for donations when their father died, and they will fund bursaries to two students this fall. Dan Seguin, who works in management for Vale, said he and his family are very proud of all their father did “for workers, and the safety and health of people.

“He never ceased to amaze me,” said Dan, in a statement issued through his wife, Susan.

Growing up in the Seguin household, Dan and his siblings didn’t fully understand the work that consumed their father. As well as working as president of United Steelworkers Local 6500 and a USW staff representative, Seguin was well known for his work with Elliot Lake uranium miners.

His ground-breaking advocacy resulted in compensation being awarded to thousands of miners for diseases contracted because of the conditions under which they worked.

It wouldn’t be until they were adults that Dan and his sisters would realize how their father’s passion had improved the lives of so many people.

“I love and miss him every single day,” said Dan.

In his characteristically blunt way, Homer Seguin admitted years ago he wasn’t pleased at first when his son joined management of the company against which his father fought so strongly for so many years.

For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.thesudburystar.com/2013/08/27/students-funded-in-memory-of-sudbury-labour-icon-homer-seguin