Anne Kessler, a crucial player in the founding of the UFT and a union activist for more than 60 years, died on Nov. 6. She was 98.

Kessler is often described as having had three careers during her long service to education and unionism.

She began her 25-year education career as a remedial reading teacher at PS 181, Brooklyn, where she became the chapter leader. During the 1950s, she began her parallel union career as an activist in the Teachers Guild and later as a leader in supporting the merger that led to the founding of the UFT.

In the early 1970s, Kessler became the UFT District 17 representative and then moved on to head the Brooklyn borough office for 14 years. In those roles, she always focused on better working conditions for teachers.

Her advice to new teachers: “Be prepared to work hard and make sure you have it in your guts to be a teacher. Also, remember you are a union member and make sure you become a part of that union.”

At her retirement in 1989, she went on to begin her third career as a UFT lobbyist at the New York City Council. She also served as a trustee of the UFT Welfare Fund for 37 years.

In recognition of her distinguished service, in 1989 she received the Charles Cogen Award, the UFT’s highest award, and in 2005 she was honored with NYSUT’s Sandy Feldman Outstanding Leadership Award.

Kessler is one of the 50 union leaders whose names are enshrined on the Wall of Honor in the lobby of UFT headquarters in Manhattan.