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Activist Gloria Friedman will be missed

Long-time DC 37 and Local 371 activist Gloria Friedman, the former vice president for housing of the DC 37 Retirees Association, passed away in February. She was 92.

“I knew Gloria for 40 years, and she was always the same — an indefatigable fighter for the members and all people,” said President Stuart Leibowitz.

Friedman was an active member of the DC 37 Housing Committee since the late 1980s and chaired the retirees’ Housing Committee for many years.

“She was our conscience,” said ­Barry Jamison, former chair of the DC 37 group.

Jamison praised Friedman’s spirit and drive. Friedman led lively groups of activists carrying placards opposing rent increases to hearings of the city Rent Guidelines Board. Outspoken about her political convictions, Friedman cut her teeth as an organizer with the Communist Party and was a World War II veteran.

“For the 12 years we worked together on the DC 37 Housing Committee, Gloria served with great dedication and enthusiasm and an enormous sense of caring,” said Local 1359 President Ralph F. Carbone.

“Gloria believed in affordable housing and preached it,” said Mary Livingston, who succeeded Friedman as the retirees’ housing chair. “I enjoyed working with Gloria, and we will all miss her.”