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Gwen was a presenter/instructor at the very first seminar I attended early in my career. Listening to her stories during the presentations was so inspiring. She influenced my views and realizations of the importance of the field of ec education.

Gwen was one of the first instructors/presenters I came in contact with at a one week seminar, the first I attended, early in my career. She was so influential in my realization of how important this field was.

I attended the Advanced Day Care Administrators course at Wheelock College in the late 1980s and met Gwen. I was setting up a lab school at Santa Fe Community College and knew alot about Head Start but really, nothing about child care. The course was EXACTLY what I needed. Not only did we design and build a beatiful state of the art facility on campus that served as a lab school as well as campus child care (for students, staff, faculty and community), we also started a child care resource and referral program, a therapeutic nursery, toy lending library and recruited, trained, mentored and supported family child care providers as well as "emergency child care" for children in homeless families. Did Gwen inspire me to take on more than I thought I could chew?----you bet! The leadership aspects of what she taught helped me become a leader that inspired others to see the vision and jump on board and work toward the dream. Thank you Gwen. I think you probably never knew the outcome of your inspirations...it is living on! Gracias!

A life well lived! She certainly had a positive impact!
Peggy Soria

Thank you, Bonnie & Roger, for a grand obit for Gwen. I will never forget my first phone conversation with Gwen in the 1980s (this was before email). I was preparing to write a dissertation on the historical development of ECE licensing laws and regs in NJ and I had found many ERIC documents by GM. She offered her office and her filing cabinet for 3 days at Wheelock - we'd never met. She gave me the name of the hotel near the college and I never forgot her generosity of information and spirit - I wended my way through CCR&R and worked for NACCRRA in DC (I have a photo in my study of Gwen with Sen. James Jeffords, (I-Vermont) - now the black ribbon put on it for Sen. Jeffords who died last year will be for both of them. When I became a board member of NARA, I met up with her again. She was a permanent part of ECE for decades; we will never forget her.

Thank you Roger for so poignantly capturing the essence of this great lady. Countless men and woman owe much to her humble counsel, guiding love and direction. I count myself blessed to have been one among them. To many of us here in Massachusetts she was the one and only Grand Dame of Early Childhood Education. I fear there will be few to ever replace her. Thank you for shining your light and love on her wise spirit that will not fail to echo throughout our profession for decades to come!

I didn't know Gwen, but wish I had. Kudos and gratitude to her for a life well-lived, dedicated to promoting quality child care and mentoring so many new leaders in the field. I extend my sympathy to her family. May she rest in peace and may many others follow her lead.

Thank you so much for such a beautiful, thoughtful piece on Gwen.

The child care field has lost one of its best leaders and advocates.
I am an ECE instructor at a community college, I also worked as an administrator for a child care, preschool and elementary and middle school for one of our city's community organization.
Gwen Morgan, although I never met her in person, was my inspiration to promote awareness among child care providers and families for what is needed for our young children's care and early education. Her publications are always part of my educational resources when I teach ECE Administration courses. My students and I just reflected on the Trilemma this past September 5, 2015; I didn't know that she died the day before.
I will ensure that we celebrate her life and her contributions to our society this coming Saturday, during our class.
Thank you, Gwen for your wonderful gifts that have helped us improve ECE theory, enrichment, advocacy, and quality enhancement.
You will be missed by many of us. Rest in peace.

My condolences to you and to Gwen's family. My gratitude to God for the gifts Gwen used for so many years to lead our profession in such poiniant ways.

What a wonderful tribute to Gwen. I never met her, but I sure wish I had after reading this. Thank you Roger for an post filled with grace and emotion.
The early care and education needs a continuing stream of folks like Gwen to improve the world for children.

Thanks, Roger, for remembering Gwen in such a thoughtful and touching way. I remember her well from my days with Summa Associates and our collaboration with WFD. She may have been diminutive but she was a giant in our field. Oh that we had more Gwen Morgans in child care!

Thanks Roger for this moving tribute to our beloved Gwen. You did a great job capturing her brilliance, accomplishments and generous spirit! We will miss her wisdom and guidance.

The printed tribute you gave Gwen Morgan as a person and as a professional was refreshing. I never had the opportunity to work with her directly but did work on projects she launched such as Work Family Directions. The success of the many projects Gwen launched were successful because of her professionalism and high ethical standards. As professional in the field today, we can pay tribute to Gwen by maintaining these two necessary qualities. Rest in peace knowing you have impacted in a positive way thousands of children.

Thank you for that lovely summary and tribute to Gwen and her amazing achievements. I was lucky enough to be at Wheelock during her ground breaking work with our child care models and policies.

A pioneer for our profession and valued mentor for many.

Thank you for the wonderful tribute to Gwen. I'm a Wheelock Alum who attended from 1976-1980 and was very fond of Gwen Morgan and her leadership. She was very approachable and students adored her because she had a way of making each person she encountered feel as if he/she was the most important person in that moment. Years later at a reunion weekend, I ran into Gwen and she did have her bags of resources and as she listened carefully about the issues I shared, she reached in her bags and pulled out something for me to read about that issue.
Gwen has paved the way for the next generations of leaders in our field. They are certainly big shoes to fill!

Gwen's leadership as part of Work Family Directions changed the world of child care in New York State in the mid 1980's. She was a gentle, kind leader and a force to be reckoned with. She was able to see to the heart of issues and say what needed to be said. She never feared speaking truth to power. I remember her opening a meeting on family day care regulations with state officials by saying, "New York is the only state that requires you to have a license to do family child care, but then refuses to give you one." That summarized the state of dysfunction succinctly and motivated the reworking of the entire regulatory system. Thank you, Gwen for showing us the way and leaving a legacy of leaders who will continue the work that is far from finished.

I can still see the twinkle in Gwen's smile and her love for the field of early childhood. I had the priviledge of knowing her while active with the Childcare and Human Services Local, District 65, UAW during the 80s and in pursuing my own early childhood career. She will be missed!

I was lucky enough to have met and worked with Gwen Morgan in the 90's when she visited our state to work with our professional development initiative. She was a wise woman with so much to offer, and yet always had the right question to ask to bring what you knew to the conversation as well. Her words continue to inspire me in my work today with children and families. The Early Childhood field has lost one of the greats, may she continue to inspire long beyond her time here on Earth. My condolences to her family.

Thank you so much for this lovely tribute to Gwen. My first contact with her was in 1976 when I helped coordinate the NHAEYC conference and contacted her to present at the cinference. I next encountered Gwen when I entered the CCR&R field and attended the week long R&R training at Wheelock in 1985. Our association continued into the 90's when I worked to implement corporate child care services at several companies through Work Family Directions. She was a visionary and mentor, contributing mire to our field than most will ever know.

A true visionary, who epitomizes the words Early Childhood Professional.

I was so very fortunate to have had Gwen as an instructor at Wheelock and to work for her with the Advanced Seminars. Thank you for sharing such a well-written tribute to a truly remarkable woman who made such a difference for millions of families. Gwen's carefully considered thoughts on early childhood policy moved our profession forward. I have carried her ideas forward in my work with children as I know others have. She leaves an enormous legacy on behalf on children. My thoughts are with her family.

Thank you for these beautiful words about Gwen Morgan. I feel so honored I was able to attend one of her summer intensives at Wheelock College. Thank you Gwen for being our leader, pioneer and visionary!