Ben Fischer was 92 years old when he died on Sunday. But he didn't go quietly.

During the week of his death, the labor economist taught a class at Carnegie Mellon University, wrote some of his autobiography and worked on a labor dispute that he had just been asked to mediate, said his wife, Sylvia Felser Fischer, of Oakland.

He even stayed up well into the night on the Tuesday before, watching the Democrats take control of Congress. "He was thrilled," said his wife. "If they hadn't won, I think he would have died earlier."

Mr. Fischer's frenetic final days mirrored the more than 70 years of his life spent participating in and analyzing the American labor movement.

Born in Richmond Hill on New York's Long Island, Mr. Fischer didn't attend college and took his first full-time job in labor and politics at age 21, as executive secretary of the Young People's Socialist League.

After leading the Socialist Party in Michigan, he became research director for the Aluminum Workers of America, and then associate research director for the United Steelworkers after the two unions merged in 1944.

Within the Steelworkers, Mr. Fischer served as an assistant to four union presidents and became known as an expert on contract language and a pioneer in contract arbitration.

"He set up the entire arbitration system, not only for the Steelworkers but for most of the labor movement," said Jim English, secretary-treasurer of the Steelworkers, who worked with Mr. Fischer in the 1960s and 1970s. "He really was the father of the concept of using arbitration."

During his days with the Steelworkers, Mr. Fischer also served as housing director for the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and co-founded ACTION-Housing with Richard King Mellon.

In 1979, Mr. Fischer was forced to retire from the Steelworkers because he had turned 65. Shortly thereafter, he joined Carnegie Mellon, where he taught classes and directed the Center for Labor Studies.

"He really had lived through a really amazing time in labor history and he could really impart that to the students," said Linda Babcock, the James M. Walton professor of economics at the Heinz School of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon. "He really had two careers. He had a whole career before he even came to Carnegie Mellon."

He developed close relationships with his students, often plating host to them for breakfasts and dinners, said Mrs. Fischer.

"He loved those boys and girls," she said. "They used to say at school, 'Whenever you saw Ben Fischer walk the hallways, there were always students following him.'"

Mr. Fischer also served as a trustee of Point Park University and as a consultant to the Inner Circle Group.

He was widowed twice before marrying Mrs. Fischer 26 years ago. In addition to his wife, survivors include a son, Fred Fischer of Harper's Ferry, W.Va.; three daughters, Suzan Wynne of Kensington, Md., Elise Fischer of New York City and Kari Uman of Reston, Va.; a stepson, Gary Randal of Los Angeles; a stepdaughter, Jill Carnig of Shadyside; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

The family will hold a memorial service today at noon at Rodef Shalom Temple in Oakland. Visitation will be held for an hour and a half prior to the service.