Gladys Keating

Gladys Brown Keating (August 1, 1923 – August 19, 2014) was an American civic activist, military spouse and Democratic politician who lived in Fairfax County, Virginia, for 45 years, during 22 of which she represented the 43rd district in the Virginia General Assembly (1978-2000).

Early and family life Born on the lower east side of Manhattan in New York City, Gladys Brown had two sisters, Barbara and Connie, who she enjoyed traveling with in her later years. Gladys graduated from Andrew Jackson High School in Queens at the age of 16. She attended Queens College and would later attend Weatherford College in Texas and George Mason University in Virginia.

Career Before her marriage, Gladys worked in an actuarial office with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in Manhattan, NY. Following her marriage, she accompanied her military husband, started a family and established their household in various locations, including Germany, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Texas.

At the time of her forced retirement in 2000, Keating was the legislature's most senior woman. She had helped form the legislature's Women's Caucus, became known for her support of family law and consumer issues. Legislation she successfully sponsored required equitable distribution in divorces, as well as championed tuition assistance for members of Virginia's National Guard, forbad telephone companies from selling customer lists, required prominent posting of retail stores' return policies, promoted firearms safety and required medical insurance companies to cover mammograms. Keating became the first woman to serve on the Committee on Corporations, Insurance and Banking (eventually becoming its co-chair), as well as the first woman to serve on the Militia and Police Committee (also becoming its chair). She also served on the rules committee, the committee on counties cities and town, and the Virginia Military Advisory Council, as well as represented Virginia at the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the 1999 election, Republican (and insurance agent) Thomas M. Bolvin defeated incumbent Keating. The following election, Bolvin would narrowly win over Democrat Mark Sickles, who had previously worked for Keating, and who defeated Bolvin in 2003 and has won re-election since. While Keating remained in northern Virginia, she taught part-time at Northern Virginia Community College, and remained active with the League of Women Voters.