DAVID G. STRATMAN

STRATMAN, David G. Of Chatham, formerly of Jamaica Plain, died March 29 from acute myeloid leukemia, at age 69. He leaves his wife of 47 years, Sally (Campbell) Stratman, and daughter, Robin Kirkpatrick and her husband Derek and son, Justin D. Stratman and his wife Amy, all of Roslindale. He was beloved Papa to grandchildren, Avery, Afton and Owen Kirkpatrick & Emma and Henry Stratman. His brother, John C. Stratman Jr. of Pennsylvania and sister, Sandra Lee Schneider of Ohio mourn his passing. During the Boston busing crisis of 1974, David worked to build a coalition of black and white parents to organize for better public schools for all of Bostons children. He ran for Boston School Committee in 1975 in a campaign focused on the shared educational needs of all children, winning support from The Boston Globe and parents on both sides of the busing controversy. His children attended Boston Public Schools as do his five grandchildren. After the election, he was selected as an Education Policy Fellow in the U.S. Office of Education and then appointed Director of Government Relations for the National PTA, eventually directing the National Coalition for Public Education in the defeat of the Tuition Tax Credit Act in the 95th Congress, a law that would have weakened public schools, diverting valuable resources from students most in need. In 1989, he authored the book We CAN Change The World: The Real Meaning of Everyday Life, arguing that peoples everyday efforts to create supportive and cooperative relationships offer the best prom-ise for building a better world and are the basis for real democracy. His work included consulting with education and labor organizations, among them the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the National Education Association, the Minnesota Federation of Teachers and the Local of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, P-9. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio to the late John and Dorothy (Burckard) Stratman, and a graduate of Xavier University, with a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he taught at Colby College & Suffolk University. Visiting hours will be held in the P.E Murray-F.J. Higgins, George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home, 2000 Centre St., West Roxbury, Friday, April 4, 4-7PM. Funeral service in the Forsyth Chapel at Forest Hills Cemetery, Saturday, April 5 at 9:30 AM. Interment private. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Stanley Tippett Home Hospice, 920 South St., Needham, MA 02492. www.tippetthome.org. For directions and guestbook, visit: www.pemurrayfuneral.com. P.E. Murray - F.J. Higgins George F. Doherty & Sons West Roxbury 617 325 2000