Longtime Linn County political activist 'Mother' Peick dies

CEDAR RAPIDS - Doris Peick, who once described herself as the “longest, strongest, meanest Democrat” in Linn County, is being remembered for her unflagging efforts on behalf of the party and organized labor.

“Mother” Peick, as she commonly referred to herself, died Wednesday at the Hospice House of Mercy in Cedar Rapids. Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

Peick is remembered - not always affectionately - for her passion for Democratic politics and unions.

“She could turn people off. She could be rough,” said Cloyd “Robbie” Robinson of Cedar Rapids. “But she got the job done.”

Peick managed numerous campaigns, including Robinson's first for the Iowa Legislature 42 years ago.

“I wouldn't have gotten the nomination without her and I would have gotten elected without her,” Robinson said. “She was a heck of a lady. A doer.”

Peick served one term herself in the Iowa House, from 1985 to 1987.

“She made an impact,” Robinson recalled. “She was blunt.”

Peick was defeated by current Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett. But she was not one to hold a grudge, Corbett learned. They became friends after that campaign.

“A lot of people thought she had a rough exterior, but inside, she was very down-to-earth,” the mayor said Thursday. Corbett recalled that after the birth of his first son, Peick delivered a package of diapers.

For Peick, a former union steward and onetime president of the Linn County Women's Democratic Club, it all was a labor of love.

“For over 50 years I have worked diligently for the party of my choice,” she said in 2005 as she was honored by the Louise Noun-Mary Louise Smith Iowa Women's Archives, the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights and the Iowa Secretary of State's Office for her impact on Iowa politics.

Going to work at Collins Radio in the 1950s, Peick became an active member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Over the years, Peick ran numerous campaigns for candidates for city, county and state office, all from her kitchen table. Many were successful.

“Some didn't (win) because they didn't listen to me,” she said, adding that she didn't take their losses personally.

John Deeth, a political blogger from Iowa City who worked under Peick on a 1992 campaign, called her a “legend.”

“‘Mother' Peick was an old-school lunch-bucket Democrat,” Deeth blogged.

Corbett described Peick as “old-school politics.”

“She was a one of a kind,” he said. “When people wanted to get something done or get elected to office, they made a trip out to see ‘Mother' Peick.”

Although Peick slowed down in recent years, she never lost her interest in politics or her passion for organized labor. In 2007, she was among current and former female elected officials who endorsed Hillary Clinton's campaign for the Democratic nomination.

“The mind and mouth work well, but the body is going to hell,” she quipped a few years ago.

Corbett can attest to that. He visited her in the hospital “and she gave me a piece of her mind on some city issues.”

For years, the walls of her large, well-packed garage were plastered with various posters from more than 30 years of campaigns.

She also preserved some of the history of her involvement in labor politics. Those materials spanning 1963-76 are maintained by the State Historical Society. They consist mainly of correspondence and minutes of meetings from several different organizations, including IBEW and several Iowa Federation of Labor and AFL-CIO Women's Activities Department conventions. Her records cover local and state political candidates, strike support in Cedar Rapids, and community service activities such as a flu shot program, the March of Dimes and Camp Sunnyside.

Inurnment will be at Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery. Messages may be left at www.cedar

memorial.com under obituaries.