Kathleen A."Kit" Daugherty

1925 - 2003  (77 years)

• Name	Kathleen A."Kit" Daugherty
  Nickname	Kit
  Born	20 Nov 1925	Enola, Cumberland Co., PA
  Gender	Female
  Died	23 Sep 2003	Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., PA
  Obituary	24 Sep 2003	Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., PA
  	Patriot-News
  	Kathleen A. 'Kit' Gingrich, ex-speaker's mother, dies Kathleen A. "Kit" Daugherty Gingrich, who saw two of her four children use their speaking talents to rise to national prominence, died yesterday at Homeland Center in Harrisburg. She was 77. Her son, Newt Gingrich, credited her last night with having been the driving force that helped him become the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. "She was very much a part of shaping me," he said last night in a telephone interview from Salt Lake City, Utah. "Without her encouraging me ... I don't think I would have become speaker of the House. She was a positive and happy person who encouraged me to constantly dream big and to live life to the fullest." Newt Gingrich was born in Harrisburg Hospital, grew up in Hummelstown and went on to be a professor at a Georgia college, a Georgia congressman and then House speaker from 1995 to 1998. One of Kit Gingrich's three daughters, Candace Gingrich, is an outspoken national advocate for lesbians and gays and their rights. But many remember Kit Gingrich for a blunt comment that she later said should never have been aired. She landed in the national spotlight on the strength a three-word, whispered comment made during a January 1995 television interview with Connie Chung, On Jan. 3, 1995, the day Newt Gingrich was sworn in as the first Republican speaker of the House in 40 years, CBS aired sections of the interview highlighted by Kit Gingrich's telling Chung what Newt Gingrich thought of then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. "Why don't you just whisper it to me, just between you and me," Chung said to the then 68-year-old Kit Gingrich. What Gingrich said next shocked many. She said, "She's a bitch." Susan Gingrich of Harrisburg, a daughter of Kit Gingrich, said last night that the interview bothered the family. She said Chung stayed at the family's Middle Paxton Twp. home for hours. Her father even baked Chung a pineapple upside-down cake, Newt Gingrich said. "It's one of the things that people remember. It was just one that the press liked because it was negative of Newt," Susan Gingrich said. "I never heard Newt say anything like that. He's a gentleman. My mother really did think she heard it." Newt Gingrich is still emotional when discussing the Chung incident. "CBS caused my mother real pain. ... She [had thought] she had embarrassed me only because a national reporter had lied to her," he said last night. "It was one of the most unprofessional and dishonest acts I have ever seen." The commotion didn't stop Kit Gingrich from seeing her son sworn in as speaker. "One of her proudest moments was seeing Newt sworn in," Susan Gingrich said. "She was very proud of that." When asked about the January 1995 interview, Kit Gingrich later told The Patriot-News that she felt betrayed by Chung. "When it came out, it was kind of a shock," she said at the time. "They could have cut that out. I was told it was the producer more than Connie. ... I don't use that word. My daughter said, 'Mother, I've never heard you use that word.'" Kit Gingrich later received an invitation to visit the Clintons at the White House. "She's very nice," she said of Hillary Clinton. "I loved the portraits in the White House. They're beautiful and big. And the furniture is so well kept." Kit Gingrich's local roots ran deep. She was born in Enola in 1925. She attended Middletown High School and Harrisburg Area Community College. She traveled a lot with her husband, Robert B. Gingrich, who was in the military. He died in 1996. "When we grew up, my dad was in the Army and we traveled a lot," Susan Gingrich said. "We camped on the Mediterranean in Spain for a month. She enjoyed camping." Kit Gingrich also enjoyed golfing. "She wasn't a good player, but she liked to give people lessons," Susan Gingrich said. Her health began to deteriorate after the death of her husband, her daughter said. Kit Gingrich moved to Homeland Center, where she lived out her life. The center provides skilled nursing and personal-care services. Barry Ramper II, the executive director of Homeland Center, said Kit Gingrich will be missed. "Kit was a very personable individual and was pretty much the spirit of Homeland Center," he said. "Kit had a very outgoing personality. She was a joy, and she will be missed." Susan said the family watched as this once-vibrant woman began to weaken from illnesses. "It's hard," she said. "She was such a vibrant, active person." What Kit Gingrich enjoyed the most in life was tending to her children and grandchildren, Susan Gingrich said. She took pride in them and would stand in to protect them. "She really, really loved her children and grandchildren," Susan Gingrich said. "She would take on anybody who said anything bad about us."
  Buried	Aft 23 Sep 2003	Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, Annville, Lebanon Co., PA
  Person ID	I81379	Stedman/Steadman/Steedman Families of the New World
  Last Modified	28 Feb 2015

  
  

  Family 1	Newton Searles McPherson,   b. 24 Feb 1923, Middletown, Dauphin Co., PA ,   d. Oct 1970  (Age 47 years)
  Married	12 Sep 1942	Middletown, Dauphin Co., PA
  Divorced	Yes, date unknown
  Divorced	13 Dec 1945	____, Dauphin Co., PA
  Children	1. Rep. Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich, Speaker of the House of Representatives
  Last Modified	24 Feb 2015
  Family ID	F30846	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Lt. Col. Robert Bruce Gingrich,   b. 22 Jul 1925, Hummelstown, Dauphin Co., PA ,   d. 20 Nov 1996, Dauphin, Dauphin Co., PA  (Age 71 years)
  Married	5 Oct 1946
  Children	1. Rep. Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich, Speaker of the House of Representatives   2. Susan E. "Snow" Gingrich   3. Roberta Kathleen Gingrich   4. Candace J. Gingrich-Jones
  Last Modified	26 Nov 2012
  Family ID	F30847	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 20 Nov 1925 - Enola, Cumberland Co., PA Buried - Aft 23 Sep 2003 - Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, Annville, Lebanon Co., PA  = Link to Google Earth