We Remember Lois Galgay Reckitt

Respected Women’s Rights Activist and Thrive’s First Featured Survivor

By Amy Litterini

When Thrive was originally conceptualized, the component of including survivor stories was a must. There is simply no substitution for relating to someone who’s walking a mile in your shoes, feels what you feel, and understands in a way others don’t. I went about searching for our first survivor for our first edition, and was subsequently introduced to Lois Reckitt by her navigator. Lois was more than happy to graciously share her story with me and ultimately all our readers in Volume 1, Edition 1. She spoke in very modest terms about her history of activism and her role in the state legislature and wanted instead for her story to focus on helping others going through their cancer experience. I just recently learned about Lois’s death from colon cancer last October. The sad news caused me to search for her obituary to honor her memory. Over the years of working in oncology I’ve realized you can learn a great deal from reading a person’s life story, even those patients you’ve worked with for many years and thought you knew quite well. In reading Lois’s obituary in the Portland Press Harold, I realized just how modest she’d been about her long and incredible legacy of advocacy. When the Associated Press article came up in my search, I realized her trailblazing impact was not only in the state of Maine, but it extended to the entire country. Lois’s advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights is also quite noteworthy. Her passing was also commemorated on the international website Shoutout, which named her as a US Lesbian Feminist Hero. Her formal awards and honors were numerous, including:

• The Outstanding Contribution to Law Enforcement Award: Maine Chiefs of Police Association, 1996

• She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 1998

• She received the Advocate for Justice Award from the Maine Judicial Branch in 2001

• The John W. Ballou Distinguished Service Award from the Maine State Bar Association in 2005

• The Deborah Morton Award from the University of New England in 2013

• She is listed in Feminists Who Changed America, 1963–1975

• She was named "Feminist of the Month – 2010" by the Veteran Feminists of America.

• She founded: Maine’s NOW chapter, the Maine Right to Choose, the Maine Coalition for Human Rights, the Maine Women’s Lobby, and the Matlovich Society for Gay Rights and AIDS Awareness Lois’s story reminds us that survivorship extends from the day of diagnosis through the balance of life. I will be eternally grateful for her willingness to advocate one final time in one final way, as the first survivor to openly share in support those whose lives have been impacted by cancer. Rest in peace, Lois; we’re thankful for your legacy.