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Virginia C apitol C onnections, Fall 2014 25
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
BERNIE HENDERSON
President
Funeral Celebrant
PARHAM CHAPEL
1771 Parham Road
(804) 288-3013
HUGUENOT CHAPEL
1020 Huguenot Road
(804) 794-1000
ATLEE CHAPEL
9271 Shady Grove Road
(804) 730-0035
In Memoriam
Gladys B. Keating
By Bernie Henderson
Gladys Keating exemplified
our founding fathers’ principles of
representative democracy much more
profoundly than they ever envisioned.
She obtained a good education, became
successful in business, formed a family
with her military husband and lived
several places. When she and her family
settled in Franconia, she became active in
community, PTA, youth athletic activities
and many other endeavors. As the result
of her activities, her neighbors recognized
her servant leadership and chose her to
represent them in the Virginia’s House of
Delegates in 1977, where she served until
retiring in 1999. She entered and served
in elective office as a public servant,
representing her constituents and seeking
ways to better our Commonwealth,
showing no interest in the perks of office
or the desire to use her office to seek a
higher one.
Gladys’ interests were quite broad.
She championed women’s health issues,
marketplace fairness and information initiatives, firearms safety and
a host of other matters. She was the first woman appointed to the
House Militia and Police Committee and the House Corporations,
Insurance and Banking Committee, and became chair of Militia and
Police and co-chair of Corporations, Insurance and Banking.
KEATING
HeNDERSON
I became acquainted with Gladys during the mid-1970s, before she
ran for the House. I was the legislative liaison for the State Corporation
Commission and she was a leader in the Virginia Citizens Consumer
Council. Virginia and the nation was in the depths of an energy crisis
that was playing havoc with the supply and cost of energy. The
credibility of public utilities and government agencies that regulated
them was at an all-time low. Gladys had more than her share of doubts
and questions and concerns about the way we at the SCC were doing
our job of protecting consumers, but unlike so many others, she was
interested in learning what we did, how and why we did it and what
changes in law were needed for us to do our job better; she wasn’t
interested in criticizing and making people into villains, she wanted to
solve the problem.
After she was elected, to the surprise of many and the consternation
of more than a few in legislative leadership, the business community
and those who considered themselves to be consumer crusaders, Gladys
and I worked closely together. We knew where we didn’t agree, so we
set those matters aside. We identified items where we could agree and
worked together to draft legislative solutions to them. I vividly recall
the delight she and I enjoyed when she was chief patron on bills that
were officially part of the SCC’s legislative package and how fun it was
for both of us to keep our friends and foes off balance by so frequently
being the legislative version of the “odd couple.”
I don’t think Gladys had a PAC or pursued thoughts of higher office.
She seemed completely happy to be a member of the Virginia House
of Delegates. People who considered themselves
conservatives thought she was a liberal and those
who considered themselves to be liberals thought
she was too friendly with conservatives; to me,
that meant she was a free-thinking, pragmatic,
can-do person interested in identifying and
accomplishing the right thing.
I regret that the passage of time and our
respective departures from our Commonwealth’s
government caused us to lose contact during
the past several years, but when I learned of
Gladys’ death on August 19, 2014, I felt the loss
of a dear friend and great gratitude to have been
able to work with one who was so selflessly and
conscientiously dedicated to her community and
her Commonwealth.
Legislative Counsel
John G. “Chip” Dicks
FutureLaw, LLC
1802 Bayberry Court, Suite 403
Richmond, Virginia 23226
(804) 225-5507 (Direct Dial)
(804) 225-5508 (Fax)
You’re Invited to
Celebrate with
Piedmont Arts in
Mobilizing Our Community!
Saturday, December 13, 2014
between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. at
Piedmont Arts
215 Starling Avenue • Martinsville, Virginia 24112
Join the young artists and see
the finished mobiles on display in the atrium.
V