(MOUNT OLIVE, ILLINOIS) - Bill Fyalka Grew Up in Mount Olive Hearing Stories From Family Members About Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, the Famous Union Activist Known as "the Grandmother of All Agitators," Who’s Buried in This Illinois Town's Union Miners Cemetery.

Fyalka, 60, Followed Some of Those Family Members Into the Coal Mines, Working at Freeman United Coal Mining Company’s Crown II Mine, and its Successor Companies, Near Farmersville From 1979 to 2013 - Including a 10-Year Layoff.

Attending the Rededication of the Mother Jones Monument, Which Drew About 300 People and Included a Heavy Union Presence Earlier This Month, Was a Natural, he said.  "Mother Jones is Like the ‘Local Hero,’" said Fyalka, Alongside His Wife, Diane. "She Was on a ‘National’ Stage, she ‘Wasn't Afraid’ to ‘Stand Up’ to the Big Shots, Like Judges and Politicians.  She Was Just a ‘Hell-Raiser.’"

The 22-Foot Pink Minnesota Granite Obelisk Honoring Mother Jones Became Weathered Since it Was Erected Ii 1936, said Amy Rueff, Resource Director at the Illinois AFL-CIO.  She said a Little More Than $76,000 Was Raised Over a 15-Month Period Beginning in the Fall of 2013.

An Additional $43,000 Matching Tourism Grant From the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Helped With the Restoration and Other Improvement Projects Around the Cemetery, Which Dates From the 1890s, Rueff said.

The Forest Park-Based Conservation of Sculpture & Objects Studio Did the Restoration.  More Than $10,000 in Donated Union Labor Also Went Toward the Project, Rueff said.

Mother Jones Died in 1930 and Specifically Asked to be Buried in the Mount Olive Cemetery, Where she Spoke on at Least Two Occasions, said Rosemary Feurer, a History Professor at Northern Illinois University.  "She said she Wanted to be Buried With Rank-and-File Workers," said Feurer, Who’s Helping Oversee the Opening of a New Mother Jones Museum as Part of a Complex Housing Municipal Offices.

Three of the Four Miners Killed in the 1898 Battle of Virden Who Had Ties to Mount Olive are Buried With Mother Jones.  In All, Seven United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Personnel and Four Security Guards Were Killed in the Skirmish.

Feurer said Mother Jones is Largely Absent From History Books, Most Likely Because of Some of the Violence That Accompanied the Labor Strikes.  She Butted Heads With Union Giants Such as John L. Lewis, Who’s Buried in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery, and Only Enjoyed a Revival in the 1970s Because of the UMWA, Feurer said.

"She's ‘Relevant’ Today," Feurer said. "We're Back to Where We Started With the Koch Brothers (Trying to Decimate Unions).  I Think That's Why She's ‘So Popular’ With Activists."

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