Good & Welfare

We regret having to report the passing of Brother Robert Petzoldt III, age 78. "Bobby" was a 41-year member of Local 728 who took his oath of obligation in October 1966. Brother Petzoldt retired and took an Honorable Withdrawal from membership in 2007. Amongst many shows to his credit, Bobby worked as a Gaffer on Dharma & Greg, Remington Steele, Mad About You & Still Standing. The Petzoldt family has roots in Local 728 that pre-dates our existence as an independent Local, when we were part of a multi-craft Local 37.

We regret having to report the passing of Brother Daniel Dorowsky age 92. Brother Dorowsky was a 45-year member of Local 728 who took his Oath of obligation in April 1980. Daniel retired in 1999 after 19 years of service on the shop floor. He worked on shows such as The Goldberg's, Fiona's Tale, Weird Science and as anyone in the business for more than two decades, innumerable more. He is survived by his son and 728 member Frank Dorowsky. 

We regret having to report the passing of Brother Aaron "Iggy" Scarpitti, age 60. Brother Scarpitti was a 31-year member of Local 728 who took his oath of obligation on March 19, 1994 and took an Honorable Withdrawal in 2023.

We regret having to report the passing of Brother Richard P. Kamins age 78. Brother Kamins was a 58-year member of Local 728 who took his oath of obligation in March 1967. Richard retired in 2007. He received his Gold Card in 2024.

We regret having to report the passing of Brother Don Navarrette age 78. Brother Navarrette was a 54-year member of Local 728 and IATSE Gold Card holder who took his oath of obligation in December 1970. Known affectionately as “No Neck” Don retired from the industry in 2001 after 37 years on stage. In the 1970’s Don worked on the 12 O'clock rigging crew at Universal which was pushed by Art Frantz. He stepped up to ACLT and worked on countless films and television productions.

We regret having to report the passing of Brother David Blundell age 56. Brother Blundell was a 21-year member of Local 728 who took his oath of obligation in December 2003. David recently retired from the industry.

A Celebration of Life for David will be held on Saturday, August 23rd, in Van Nuys, CA.

Location: Best Ball | 6331 Woodley Ave | Van Nuys, CA 91406 Time: 4PM - 8PM

If you would like to submit a photo of David (digitized) please send to Anthony at the email below.

We regret having to report the passing of Brother Roger Bourse age 78. Brother Bourse was a 48-year member of Local 728 who took his oath of obligation in April 1977. Roger retired from the field in May 2011.

We regret having to report the passing of Brother James R. "Jimmy" Ellis age 38. Brother Ellis was a 13-year member of Local 728 who took his oath of obligation in March 2011.

We regret having to report the passing of Brother Frank Krejsa age 68. Brother Krejsa was a 35-year member of Local 728 who took his oath of obligation in May 1990. Frank retired in May of 2015 after a 25-year career.

Frank worked on countless television and movie productions throughout his many years in the industry, including Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Ghost in the Machine, Casual Sex?, Less Than Zero, and a slew of music videos. In the latter years of his career, he worked on The Jimmy Kimmel Show. Frank is survived by his daughter.

We regret to report that Brother Bret Acquistapace has passed away at age 64. Brother Acquistapace was a 45-year member of Local 728 having been obligated in April 1980.  Bret retired in December of 2019. Bret worked on countless television and movie productions throughout his many years in the industry. In the mid-1990's he settled in at Fox Studios working on the shows that were filmed through the Set Lighting Department, eventually settling into working on the lamp dock where he was known as an affable and easy to get along with member of the crew.