When Marna Davidson, a former UFT Retired Teachers Chapter Florida coordinator, was honored as Retiree of the Year during the American Federation of Teachers’ 2008 convention, she recalled her first day as a teacher more than 40 years earlier.

She said she arrived at her school to discover a strike had just begun, and the principal warned her, “If you don’t cross that picket line, you don’t have a job.”

Davidson told the convention crowd that she replied, “I don’t cross that picket line: I’m a union member,” prompting roars of approval.

Davidson died of natural causes on Sept. 14 in Pleasanton, California, She was 89.

Afterward, her closest colleagues said Davidson’s retort as a young teacher personified her as a teacher, school chapter leader and key figure in the UFT’s retiree chapter in Florida.

“A very, very feisty lady, very pro-union,” said Myra Entenberg, a former District 2 chapter leader. She called Marna “extremely bright, extremely kind to people, very dedicated to the union.”

AFT President Randi Weingarten, who as UFT president in 2008 nominated Davidson for the retiree award, said after her passing, “She was a dynamo.”

Davidson taught 5th grade and math and science labs for 25 years at PS 33 in Chelsea. She was politically active and, according to her daughter, Ronni Herb, was a delegate for either the UFT or NYSUT at four Democratic National Conventions.

“A staunch Democrat,” Herb said of her mom.

With a growing number of members retiring to the Sunshine State and in need of counseling on pension and health benefit issues, Davidson was tapped to expand Florida’s RTC office as the coordinator, a post she held for more than a decade until 2010, said Ken Goodfriend, who succeeded her.

“She had a stature to her,” he said. “She told you what to do, and she helped you do it.”

Another former chapter leader in District 2, Elaine Boderman, said of Davidson, “She loved the union and everything it stood for.”

In addition to her daughter, Davidson is survived by a son, Michael; a stepson; and five grandchildren.