Irving H. "Irv" Fletcher was born in 1932 and grew up in Maine. From 1950 to 1954, he served in the United States Navy during the Korean War. He then attended the University of Maine, from which he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in education. In the late 1950s, Fletcher became a junior high school teacher in Klamath Falls, Oregon. In 1970, he and his family moved to Eugene, where he earned a master's degree in industrial relations from the University of Oregon. After graduating, he became executive secretary of the Lane County Labor Council, while also working in the Corrections Division in Salem, and in 1976 he began working for the Oregon Employment Division as director of the Apprenticeship Information Center in Eugene. In 1981, Fletcher was elected president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, and served in that role for for 18 years, until his retirement in 1999. In 2000, he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Oregon House of Representatives. Fletcher also corresponded for many years with Oregon political leaders and federal leaders in support of various causes, and he advocated for the rights of people with mental disabilities.

Sources: Collection materials; "Irv Fletcher no Jimmy Hoffa, but neither is he loved," by Jeff Mapes, Oregonian, October 13, 1985; "Union leader nears retirement bouyant about labor's future," by Gail Kinsey Hill, Oregonian, September 6, 1999; 2000 general election results, "Election History: Oregon Statewide Election Results," Secretary of State's website, https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/Pages/electionhistory.aspx