Brother McCauley with his wife Jeanine and their close friend Father William Scafidi of St. Mary's Church in Newburgh.

    Brother McCauley is gone, but his vision for our Union burns brightly.

     On Tuesday May 22, 2007, Teamsters Local 445 Secretary Treasurer/Principal Officer Douglas L. McCauley succumbed to a heart attack he had suffered 10 days earlier at the Union Hall.

     At the wake two nights later, hundreds of stories were told of Dougie’s great spirit on and off the job during his 44 years as a member and Shop Steward with the Union, of his legendary generosity whenever anyone needed a loan or help around the house, and even one story when he delivered a free truckload of oil to a laid-off construction member’s home during a particularly tough winter.  

     Immediately after the funeral, a huge procession of trucks, cars and busses accompanied the hearse from St. Mary’s Church in Newburgh to the Teamster Union Hall on the Montgomery border, where his beloved wife Jeannine placed a wreath in his honor and memory. The sad parade grew so large that Rt. 17K was temporarily shut down as two lanes of vehicles were taken by the mourning Teamsters.

     He was laid to rest in St. Francis Cemetery in New Windsor.

     “Dougie helped so many people,” said Adrian Huff, who was chosen by Brother McCauley to run for President two years ago, and who now takes his place by vote of the Executive Board. “I can only hope to bring to the job the same compassion, humility and dedication that he brought.”

     “He was my best friend,” said Brother McCauley’s wife Jeannine during the funeral. “He loved his family and he loved his Union.”

     Born on January 27, 1942, Brother McCauley joined Local 445’s Construction Division in 1963 at age 21. Those were the heady days when International Teamsters General President Jimmy Hoffa was a frequent visitor to our Union, and Brother McCauley was often called upon by his mentor, former Secretary-Treasurer Ted Daley, to drive Brother Hoffa to various meetings and functions.  When Hoffa’s son James announced he was entering the race for General President in the l990’s, Brother McCauley joined the effort and wound up driving the younger Hoffa to various functions in the New York area.   He often said that the two Hoffas, along with Brother Daley, were his main influences.

     Brother McCauley had a lifelong dream of leading our Union, and in December 2005 the membership gave him that chance. He focused on several areas at once, improving representation and the negotiating process while setting up an organizing program that by this past April had rattled off an astounding eight consecutive victories involving more than 600 employees. Brother McCauley also led a large volunteer effort to paint, repair and landscape the Union Hall, and helped reinvigorate the Union Retirees Club. He became strongly involved in local politics and community actions, and made all members active and retired feel very welcome at the hall.  

     He loved to cook for family and friends, and at last autumn’s Union Picnic was a great help behind the barbeque.

     Brother McCauley is survived by his wife Jeannine, his brother William, many close in-laws, and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and others whom he enjoyed dearly.

     “He was a good, good man,” said one of his oldest friends, Robert “Mac” McCormick from the Construction Division.

     “He’d give you the shirt off his back,” said his father-in-law, Deacon Jack Seymour.

     Brother McCauley’s close friend Father William Scafidi of St. Mary’s Church, who less than two weeks earlier had offered the invocation at the Union’s annual Pension and Welfare Fund Retirees Dinner, spoke warmly of Doug’s deep humility mixed with a strong sense of dedication to his wife, his church, and his union.

     Father Scafidi reminded everyone at the service that Brother McCauley’s accomplishments were both large and small, especially with the everyday goodness and compassion he showed to all.

     “It’s up to all of you to carry his vision forward,” he said.