Judith D. Peabody, known for her philanthropy and volunteer work, especially on behalf of people with AIDS and their families, died Sunday, July 25th. Lovely reflections and remembrances of her life and work continue to be published online.
The Divine Mrs. Peabody: Remembering the Woman behind the Diamonds
From National Minority AIDS Council
The crazy thing about the early of years in the fight against HIV/AIDS is that it brought together folks who would never have known each other, let alone socialized, let alone become dear friends. Judy was Auntie Mame to me and so many others struggling to fight AIDS. We would travel the world, she showed me Vienna, Stockholm, Montreal and Omaha.
I met Judy at a benefit by the Alvin Alley dance company for Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC). She was a vision in black tulle and lace with beautiful diamonds. I remember telling her how much I liked her necklace. She said it was from Harry. Well being the hick that I was, I asked “Harry?” She responded “Harry Winston of course darling”. She then grabbed by hand, kissed my cheeks and took me under her wings.
Legend has it that we got our first government funding for AIDS research because Judy had lunch with Mrs. Pat Buckley and Mrs. Buckley had lunch with Mrs. Nancy Reagan and Mrs. Reagan put a note on someone’s desk and we got our first $15 million.
And, here’s a bit from her New York Times obituary:
In the mid-1980s, after the death of a friend from AIDS, Mrs. Peabody volunteered to work for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. She became a care partner — someone who accepts responsibility for helping an AIDS patient — for dozens of men with AIDS and led support groups for patients’ loved ones and caregivers, in addition to raising money for the organization and donating her own to it.
“Mrs. Peabody was someone who recognized the challenge of AIDS long before it was fashionable,” Marjorie J. Hill, the chief executive of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, said in an interview on Monday. “She did everything she could, on a personal level and an institutional level, to combat the stigma of the disease among people living with H.I.V. and their caretakers. She left her mark on thousands of lives at G.M.H.C.”