Edith Windsor, the youngest of three children, was born in 1929 to James and Celia Schlain in Philadelphia. Her parents were immigrants from Russia who owned and lived above a candy and ice cream store, both lost during the depression. Despite hard times, her parents valued their children’s education, making financial sacrifices to buy them books and send them to college. Edith dated many boys in high school, but during college at Temple University, she became aware of her homosexuality. In the 1950s, afraid to live her life as a gay person, Edith married her brother’s best friend. Within a year, she confided to him that she longed to be with women, and they parted amicably. Edith moved to New York City, hoping to find other gay people. However, Edith was uncomfortable with gay life in New York City in the 1950s. In 1957, she received her master’s degree in applied mathematics from NYU. She was one of the very few women at the heart of the revolution in computer programming, working for IBM starting in 1958 and becoming a senior systems programmer. Edith received the first IBM PC delivered in New York City, and in 1987 was honored by the National Computing Conference as a pioneer in operating systems. After leaving IBM, she founded and became president of PC Classics, Inc, a software house specializing in consulting and major software development projects. At a West Village restaurant, she met Thea Spyer, a PhD psychologist and an accomplished violinist whose family fled Amsterdam ahead of Hitler’s invasion. Two years later, in 1967, they began what turned out to be a very long engagement . Thea proposed to Edith with a diamond pin because a ring would have prompted unwelcome questions. Edith and Thea kept a low profile, leading a life typical of upwardly mobile professional couples in Manhattan, hosting dinner parties for friends, traveling, and spending summer weekends at their beach house in South Hampton. But life changed when Thea developed multiple sclerosis. In 1977, Edith left IBM to care for Thea, who gradually became quadriplegic. Windsor and Spyer registered as domestic partners when it became possible in New York in the 1990s. In 2007, when Thea’s medical condition became terminal, they traveled to Canada to officially marry, accompanied by three health aides and a small group of close friends. Thea died in 2009. A short time later, Edie suffered a serious heart attack, leaving her in fragile health with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. When Spyer died, she left her entire estate to Windsor, primarily her share in the couple’s New York apartment. However, in 1996, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage for all federal purposes as a union between a man and a woman. Despite being married in Canada and having a domestic partnership in New York, DOMA prohibited Edie from the benefit of a tax exemption for surviving spouses, resulting in a federal estate tax bill of more than $300,000. In 2010, at age 81, Windsor decided to challenge the unfair tax in court. The Supreme Court victory for Edith Windsor was a landmark victory for gay marriage, declaring DOMA—which excluded gay married couples from over 1,000 federal provisions—unconstitutional. The decision marked the first time that the U.S. federal government recognized same sex marriage. Gay couples now could file joint tax returns, get access to veteran’s and Social Security benefits, hold on to their homes when their spouses died, and get green cards for their foreign spouses. Edith Windsor’s living room became filled with mementos of a battle she never expected to fight, including a pile of thank-you letters and a photo of Michelle Obama giving her a congratulatory hug. In 2013, Edie was named one of the Forward 50 most important Jewish people and was nominated for Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. Her life is an inspiration to all seniors, showing that it is never too late to make a difference!

click here