In Memoriam: Gloria Sackman-Reed and Midge Kovacs

November 12, 2004

• Midge Kovacs, Former New York City NOW Leader
• Gloria Sackman-Reed, Longtime NOW activist and pioneer

Midge Kovacs, Former New York City NOW Leader

Former vice president of New York City NOW Midge Kovacs of Manhattan, 78, died Oct. 15 of cancer. She was a pioneering advertising executive and devoted much of her life to promoting positive images of women and publicizing spasmodic dysphonia, a voice disorder that severely limited her ability to speak.

Kovacs joined NOW in 1970, and went on to become vice president of the New York City chapter. She was instrumental in NOW’s efforts to promote positive images of women in the media. Kovacs used the expertise she gained leading her own advertising agency to launch a memorable public service ad campaign—Woman Power: It’s Much Too Good to Waste—with the help of the NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund, now called Legal Momentum.

When Kovacs developed vocal dysphonia, she helped found the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association. She also created and edited the organization's journal Our Voice and created the New York tri-state region's spasmodic dysphonia support group.

Kovacs later suffered a stroke that committed her to a wheelchair. With her continuing strength and determination to overcome any obstacle, she led a campaign to gain better access for wheelchair users in New York City.

Linda Ray, niece of Kovacs, admired her aunt's persistent drive.

"She would push any obstacle out of the way and go full speed ahead," Ray said. "She never took 'no' for an answer if she believed 'yes' was a much better answer that would help people."

Kovacs is survived by her sister Esther Ray. A memorial service will be held Dec. 5 in New York City. Contributions may be made in her honor to the NOW Foundation.

Gloria Sackman-Reed, Longtime NOW activist and pioneer

Longtime NOW activist Gloria Sackman-Reed of Springfield, Va., 66, died Oct. 27 of cancer. She played an integral role in NOW's efforts in the early 1970s that led to a change in Little League regulations to allow girls into the youth baseball organization.

Sackman-Reed, a co-founder of Williamsport NOW in Pennsylvania, encouraged many others to become involved in NOW's efforts. She recruited Carol Atkins of Manistee, Mich., and Martha Sykes of Johnstown, Pa.

"Gloria was rock solid in her commitment to feminism and she made our work something you couldn't resist getting involved in," Atkins said.

"At the time, sports was not my thing, [violence against women] was my thing, but her style, her leadership, her indomitable spirit made me want to pitch in and win it," Sykes said.

The threesome, along with a handful of other NOW activists in Williamsport, organized a demonstration at the 1973 Little League World Series that drew several hundred activists.

Sackman-Reed joined NOW in 1973. Her involvement began with the Little League case and soon led to leadership roles in the organization for which she moved all around the country. She became president of Pennsylvania NOW in 1974. She was also a member of the Majority Caucus at the NOW convention in Philadelphia in 1975, where the group developed strategies and focus that led to an expansion of the Equal Rights Amendment Campaign into unratified states. She then served as director of the NOW ERA Campaign in Florida in 1980. All the while she sat on the National NOW Board from 1977-1983.

"There wasn't an issue, a rally, a demonstration or a march Gloria didn't love," said Alice Cohan, longtime NOW activist and Feminist Majority staff member. "She was a major leader across the board on every issue that impacts women."

Close friends remember Sackman-Reed's stellar involvement in many demonstrations over the years. One that stands out in their memories was a protest she led at the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City dressed as Superwoman.

Aside from her work with NOW, Sackman-Reed's leadership skill and entrepreneurial skills flourished in the numerous ventures she undertook throughout her life. She worked as a cocktail waitress in Las Vegas, owned her own printing business and a bar, and eventually became a successful realtor in northern Virginia.

Sackman-Reed lived an adventurous life that took her all over the world. Born a farm girl in Bonner Springs, Kansas, she found excitement in horizons much further than her family's fence line. Her passport bears the stamps from countries in the Arab Middle East and Europe.

Sackman-Reed was diagnosed with cancer in 2000, a month after the death of her husband Charles A. Reeve. In spite of annual mammograms, when doctors found a cancerous lump in her breast, it had already spread throughout her body. Her doctors' original prognosis gave her less than a year to live.

"A force to be reckoned with," as described by close friend Linda Berg, political director at National NOW Action Center, Sackman-Reed battled cancer for four years with the same fervor she fought for equality for women throughout her life.

"The sunshine in her smile is what we will remember the most," said Lillian Ciarrochi, longtime NOW activist.

Sackman-Reed is survived by daughter Celeste A. Patton and sons Karlton S. Patton and Robert C. Bastian. A memorial service was held Nov. 12 at Demaine Springfield-Annandale Funeral Chapel in Springfield. Memorial contributions can be made in her honor to the NOW Foundation or an organization that promotes breast cancer research.