They are calling it the Year of the Woman in politics.
Faith Ryan Whittlesey clearly was ahead of her time.
More than four decades ago, she was THE woman in Delco politics.
Whittlesey died Monday at 79 after a long battle with cancer.
Whittlesey, a onetime liberal Democrat, became a conservative firebrand who rose from the trenches of Delco politics in the aftermath of the infamous Delco GOP War Board to become a close ally of President Ronald Reagan and serve as ambassador to Switzerland.
Whittlesey got her start in politics back in 1973 when she was elected to the state House of Representatives from the 166th district in Haverford.
She then ran for Delaware County Council, becoming one of the "New Look Republicans." She clashed with local Republicans when she threw her support around Ronald Reagan, backing him for president over the party's pick, incumbent President Gerald Ford.
In 1878 she ran unsuccessfully for state lieutenant governor. But in 1980 she teamed with Montgomery County's Drew Lewis to cop-chair Reagan's Pennsylvania campaign.
Reagan won. He did not forget. The new president appointed her ambassador to Switzerland.
Faith Ryan Whittlesey, a Delaware County political icon, and a woman ahead of her time.
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