Joseph M. Lyons, retired president of the Philadelphia Council of Newspaper Unions, and ‘muffin man’ of Sea Isle City, has died at 82

Joseph M. Lyons, 82, of Horsham, retired president of Teamsters Local 169 and the Philadelphia Council of Newspaper Unions, and beloved “muffin man” of Sea Isle City, died Monday, Oct. 17, of vasculitis at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

A young warehouseman at the start of his union career in the 1960s, Mr. Lyons used his organizational skills and energetic personality to become president of both Teamsters Local 169 and the Philadelphia Council of Newspaper Unions, a member of Teamsters Joint Council 53, a top contract negotiator, and union spokesperson during one of Philadelphia’s most unpredictable labor periods, from the 1980s through the mid-2000s.

He represented thousands of union workers around the region in delicate and often-contentious contract talks with officials from many companies, including The Inquirer and Daily News. As a lead negotiator, he was part of the city’s economic landscape and helped define its labor and management relationships.

His family said in a tribute: “He had no tolerance for racism and social unfairness.”

Mr. Lyons was a friend and colleague of many top union officials and squared off often against management heavyweights such as Brian Tierney of The Inquirer and Daily News, Mitch Leibovitz of Pep Boys, and Richard Harrison of the food wholesaler Fleming Cos.

He retired in the mid-2000s, and, a baker at heart, awoke at 3 a.m. in the summer for years afterward to make muffins for his boyhood buddy at McGowan’s Market in Sea Isle. After his death, the store’s Facebook page was loaded with photos of Mr. Lyons and recollections of his muffins and other culinary adventures.

“I’ll always remember Cooking Joe,” one friend said in a tribute, and “his burnt grilled cheese on rye.”

As union spokesperson, Mr. Lyons was often direct in his public statements. “There comes a time in all of these negotiations where you know it’s time to settle, and that time is now,” he told the Daily News during a last-minute push to avoid a strike at the newspapers in 1993. He also said: “Our patience is getting a little thin. We don’t feel the company is negotiating in good faith with us.”

He was practical. “We don’t expect this to be easy,” he said of contract talks with the newspapers in 2006. And he was principled. “The drivers could probably make an agreement,” he said in 1993. “But we’re not going to do that. We’re not going to leave the Guild hanging out there.”

Mr. Lyons negotiated tough, his opponents said, but honorably, and Tierney applauded the impact Mr. Lyons had on the labor scene and respect he earned for his clear-eyed positions. In 1993, Mr. Lyons compromised to reach a deal with The Inquirer and Daily News, saying: “I don’t think we got everything we were looking for. But we got the best that we can get, and we can live with it.”

Born Feb. 16, 1940, in Philadelphia, Mr. Lyons was one of 10 children. He grew up in Germantown and was an all-star football player at Northeast Catholic High School.

He met Patricia Walsh in the neighborhood, fell in love, and married her when he was 16. They went on to have daughter Mary and sons Joe, Jim, Tim, Michael, and Paul and lived in Germantown, Hatboro, and finally Horsham. Michael and Paul died earlier.

“We all adored and clamored for his attention at each Sunday dinner,” his daughter said.

Mr. Lyons took the family to Phillies games and on memorable trips to Ireland, was a famously bad driver, and hung out with pals at the Glenside Pub and the Pour House in Sea Isle.

He umpired Little League baseball games, was quiet and determined, and rarely complained. “He never raised his voice,” his son Jim said, “because he didn’t have to. He had a way of getting his point across.”

His daughter said: “Joe Lyons was a man anyone would be proud to call husband, father, brother and friend.”

In addition to his wife and children, Mr. Lyons is survived by six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, four sisters, three brothers, and other relatives. Two brothers died earlier.

Services were Oct. 24 and 25.

Donations in his name may be made to the St. Francis Inn Ministries, P.O. Box 3746, Philadelphia, Pa. 19125.