12/1/49 – 11/19/22
Fred Hyde dedicated his life and contributed greatly to the fight for a better world. From the 1960s, he promoted the rights of Black and other people of color, women and LGBTQI+ individuals. As a law student he worked for tribal fishing rights, became active in the fight for low-paid workers at the University of Washington and joined the Freedom Socialist Party. He became a Washington state hearing examiner and joined Washington Federation of State Employees Local 435, representing it in the Martin Luther King Co. Labor Council for many years. In his off hours, Hyde defended Clara Fraser in her victorious sex and political ideology case against Seattle City Light. He was essential in winning the Freedom Socialist Party’s precedent-setting Freeway Hall privacy rights case against an anti-communist attack, and took on many other civil liberties battles. He successfully defended the right to be a socialist judge when a rightwing employer claimed he was biased against bosses for ruling in favor of a trans woman employee.
Hyde was co-chair of local organizing for the Million Worker March of 2004. He collaborated with the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, worked for labor support to abortion rights and Gay Pride events, and fought fascism. He defended the Seattle Fair Employment and Open Housing ordinances, supported efforts to found a U.S. labor party, and promoted AFL-CIO solidarity with Latin American workers. After retirement he was active in the Retired Public Employees Council even while fighting Parkinson's Disease.
Raised on a cattle ranch near Klamath Falls, Oregon, Hyde attended Yale University and the UW Law School. He is survived by life partner and comrade Megan Cornish; sisters Mary Williams Hyde, Sue Katsel, and Rhoda Bennett; and many cousins, nieces and nephews. Donations in his memory may be made to the Freedom Socialist Party, https://fsp-seattle.square.site
A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, February 26, at 2pm at New Freeway Hall, 5018 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98118. For more information, call 206-722-2453 or email seattlefsp@socialism.com.
Sign Fred's guest book here or at obituaries.seattletimes.com