Gwendalyn F. Cody

Gwendalyn Felts Cody -- WWII veteran, military wife, long-time Virginia GOP activist and real estate agent into her 80s – passed away on May 2 at age 99 at her home in Annandale, VA. In itself, a long live does not confer significance. But when a person will be missed by friends and colleagues in so many spheres, one understands why she was often characterized as a ‘force of nature.’

Born in Richmond on April 4, 1922, she was raised in Baltimore and graduated from Sparrows Point High School in 1939. Following a year studying at Towson State, she worked as a trade analyst at Hercules Powder Corp. in Wilmington, DE. As she saw her male cousins enlist after Pearl Harbor, she decided she also wanted to make a contribution to the war effort. In 1943, she enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and traveled to Daytona Beach, FL for basic training. Her first assignment was traveling to towns throughout New Hampshire with a song and dance troupe that sold war bonds. Her part was to present a patriotic speech entitled, ‘Why We Fight,’ in an effort to increase support for American involvement in the war.

Around this time, Army leadership announced a critical shortage of trained cryptologists. She signed up and after expedited training, she and the other WACS assigned to the 3341st Signal Corps Battalion were shipped to Europe, landing in 1944 at Le Havre in the north of France. Soon they were in Paris working eight-hour shifts around the clock at the ‘Blockhouse,’ the supposedly gas-proof and bomb-proof headquarters of the command staff. Each day, they changed the interior cogs in the large code machines to produce new cyphers. Because of her work, she knew secrets that she guarded until her death. One night she began to decode a message that she realized announced the end of hostilities in Europe, the VE day that everyone had prayed for. She allowed a more senior colleague to decode the rest of the message and make the announcement. “We knew the news before General Eisenhower did,” she remarked a few years ago.

That night, the streets of Paris were filled with revelers, and she and her coworker, Scottie, finished their shift and joined crowds carrying flags and bottles of wine. A jeep drove up covered with American soldiers, so many that the driver had to be guided by passengers seated on the hood. They asked the women if they wanted to go to the street dance at the Champs Elysees, and somehow there was room for them, too. The last two out of the jeep were Gwen and Robert (Bob) L. Cody, a young lieutenant from Colorado who had been hit by a German sniper in Yugoslavia. A year later, they were married in the only Protestant church they could find in Vienna, Austria.

Thus began her time as an Army wife, having two children and supporting her husband’s career as he moved up in rank, was assigned around the world and was deployed to Korea and Vietnam. For his final assignment at the Pentagon, they purchased the Annandale house where she lived for the next 55 years.

Bob’s early death at age 56 brought a new phase to her life. With both children in college, she entered politics in 1979 by running for a seat on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors against Democratic incumbent, Jim Scott. In a close race, she characterized his ideas as “socialistic,” and remarked that voters are tired of paying for social programs long supported by her opponent. She was narrowly defeated, but learned from the experience. More importantly, she made contacts with fellow conservatives across the state which would serve her in the future.

She ran again in 1981, this time winning the 49th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. She was reelected and served the realigned 38th District during legislative sessions in 1984 and 1985. An early ‘Reagan Republican,’ she was one of the few conservative Republican delegates representing Northern Virginia in Richmond at that time. Even though she lost her final reelection bid, she played a part in the conservative wave which slowly enveloped state politics and lasted until recent elections. She remained a stalwart conservative, becoming a GOP leader, go-to advisor and unofficial kingmaker of politicians launching political careers in Virginia.

When her active political career ended, Gwen got a real estate license, working for three decades at several area firms. In a 2005 Washington Post story about agents still working into their 80s, Gwen said, “I can’t imagine retiring -- I plan to do this as long as I can.” And she did.

Gwen is survived by her son, Robert L. Cody, Jr., and his wife, Lisa, of Rochester, MN, her daughter, Cathleen C. Cody and fiancé Juan Carlos Feliu of Seville, Spain; her granddaughter Brianne Cody of Camarillo, CA; two step grandsons, Brian Leppert and fiancé Deana Ramos of Rochester, MN, and Chris Leppert and wife Erica of Cincinnati, OH; and two grand grandchildren, Evan Frazee and Bella Powers of Camarillo, CA.

Information about the memorial service for Gwen Cody can be found at www.nationalfh-mp.com. In lieu of flowers, Gwen requested that donations be made to the Annandale Rotary Foundation (send a check to: PO Box 143, Annandale, VA 22003) or to Fisher House (Fisherhouse.org – click on ‘donate’).