Bea Gaddy, 68; City Councilwoman Fought for Poor, Homeless

Bea Gaddy, 68, a former housekeeper who rose from poverty to become Baltimore’s leading advocate for the homeless and poor, died Wednesday of breast cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Gaddy, a member of the Baltimore City Council, organized Thanksgiving feasts that served thousands of the city’s homeless for more than 20 years.

A native of Wake County, N.C., Gaddy worked as a $50-a-week housekeeper in New York City before moving to Baltimore in 1964. In the early 1970s, she joined the East Baltimore Children’s Fund, and her home became a distribution point for food and clothing for the poor.

Oakland Mayor and former California Gov. Jerry Brown recalled staying with Gaddy during his 1992 presidential run. “She was a very dynamic woman,” Brown said in an interview with the Baltimore Sun. “I was amazed how she could take rundown buildings and make them into something good. She was able to bring life to the core of the city.”