Mariwyn Heath

HEATH, Mariwyn, 74, of Dayton passed away Friday January 8, 2009. Born in Chicago, she is preceded in death by her husband Eugene Robert Heath and parents Dr. Thomas Leo and Winifred Brennan Dwyer. Mariwyn is survived by her sons Philip Clayton (Monica) Heath and Jeffrey Thomas Heath; sister Donna (Robert) Lauck and brother Richard (Jo Ann) Dwyer, M.D.; granddaughters Shea Nicole Heath and Bryn Noel Heath; many other family and friends.

Mariwyn, having been raised by politically active parents, attended Webster College in St. Louis and the University of Missouri where she became the first woman to receive a degree in Journalism. She volunteered in the Foreign Student Advisor's Office, was active in both the Inter-American Club, YWCA and served as a board member, officer and president of the university's Cosmopolitan Club.

After college, she married Eugene and moved to Elmira, New York, where she was employed as the managing editor of the Chemung Valley Reporter in Horseheads, NY, and began working as a free-lance speech writer, leading to her lifelong involvement in political campaigns and issues. Mariwyn began her work with the Business and Professional Women (BPW) Club and in Theta Sigma Phi, the national journalism honorary society that later became the Association for Women in Communications (WIC).

In 1960, Mariwyn, Eugene and Philip moved to Lancaster, Ohio, and on to Dayton in 1963, where Jeffrey was born.

For the next 20 years she held both regional and national appointments with WIC; from 1967 to 1969 she was president of BPW/Dayton and served as BPW's state president in 1976-77, she held local and state positions with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and was a leader with the Dayton Area YWCA.

By 1974, all of Mariwyn's activism was focused nationally on women's issues and the participation of women in the political process. Most notably, she was named Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) coordinator, and later PAC Chair, for BPW/USA, covering Congressional races in all 50 states; served on the National Council on the Future of Women in the Workplace, widely quoted in it's "Workplace 2000" report; chaired the Number One Imperative Committee (to eliminate institutional racism by any means possible) for the national YWCA. As founder and managing partner for ERAmerica, Mariwyn was the active platform speaker and lobbyist of BPW for the ERA in the Ohio Statehouse, in Congress and in fifteen states that had not ratified the ERA between 1968 and 1982 (they know who they are!). She was the lead consultant for the ERA to both the Ford and Carter Administrations, commuting weekly between Dayton and offices in Washington, DC.

Five Ohio Governors, both Republican and Democrat, in each of the past 5 decades, appointed Mariwyn to numerous posts covering highway safety, credit for women, women's employment opportunities, the Women's Commission and the Task Force on Women for the Ohio Bicentennial Commission.

She was named to the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1983; named one of the "10 Outstanding Women of the World" by Soroptimist International; awarded the "Keeper of the Flame" award by Ohio's Secretary of State. To honor her lifetime of volunteer work, BPW named it's top annual award for Mariwyn D. Heath.

In Dayton, she was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Miami Valley Regional Transit Authority from 1984-91, serving 2 years as President and on the national legislation committee for the American Public Transit Association. She served as an officer on the Board of Trustees of the Miami Valley Military Affairs Association of WPAFB. She was one of 60 participants selected nationwide for the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC-53) from the U.S. Department of Defense. In 1974, Mariwyn was Dayton's Woman of the Year and was the first woman to be elected President of the Presidents Club of Dayton, joining its Legion of Honor in 1987.

Mariwyn mentored many of today's leaders, both male and female, and proved, with the support of Eugene, Phil and Jeff, that women are equally strong and successful in any pursuit they choose.

The Funeral Mass will be held 10:00 AM Friday, January 15, 2009, at Holy Angels Church, Brown and K Street, Dayton, Ohio. Family will receive friends from 5:00 – 7:00 PM Thursday, January 14, 2009, at Newcomer Funeral Home, 3380 Dayton-Xenia Road. Burial services will be at Calvary Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to S.I.C.S.A.