University Times

Funeral services will be held Saturday, April 20, for Human Resources benefits relationship manager Nancy Scott Gilkes.

Gilkes, 68, of Shadyside, died April 12, 2013.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology/anthropology in 1968 through Pitt’s College of General Studies and, after joining the University staff, earned a master’s degree in library science.

Gilkes worked in Human Resources positions at Pitt for more than 44 years, beginning her career in 1968 as a senior secretary in personnel. She held personnel analyst positions until she became personnel services coordinator in 1972.

In 1975 she was promoted to co-director of personnel and in 1978 became director of personnel services.

Gilkes was named manager of planning and project development in 1984 and in 1986 became manager of compensation and project development.

In 1987 she became manager of benefits and in 2005 became benefits relationship manager. Her recent duties included helping employees transition into retirement and assisting retirees with benefits.

Former Human Resources head John Wilds, assistant vice chancellor for community relations, worked closely with Gilkes as benefits manager between 1985 and 1995. Over the course of her lengthy career, Gilkes saw many changes in the department, he said.

During Wilds’s tenure in HR, Gilkes helped develop the first universal staff classification and pay plan. She saw the addition of new benefits plans including a defined benefit alternative for retirement, the addition of Vanguard as a retirement savings option and the launch of a cafeteria benefits plan, among other major changes in University benefits.

Known as an efficient administrator and problem-solver, Gilkes often worked long hours, colleagues said.

She was an appointee to the University Senate benefits and welfare committee and, beyond her work duties, was instrumental in establishing the Christmas Day at Pitt program, which provides meals and gifts for people in need.

In 2008, she received the Chancellor’s Award for Staff for Excellence in Service to the University.

Ronald W. Frisch, associate vice chancellor of Human Resources, said, “She was an exceptional employee, an exceptional individual who cared.”

Passionate, tenacious and detail oriented, “She epitomized the institution. She really was the University of Pittsburgh,” Frisch said.

Beyond her family, church and volunteer work, her job at Pitt was her life, he said. For better or worse, “She couldn’t put an issue down,” Frisch said.

“Often by 6 a.m. she had called me twice. She rarely left before 7:30 at night,” he said. Gilkes “never missed work. She was always there. She never missed a thing,” Frisch said. And, “she knew virtually everyone. In every corner of the University, she touched so many people.”

As word of Gilkes’s death spread, Frisch said dozens of condolences have poured in to the department. “I was humbled by the pure emotion and the volume of it,” he said. “I personally lost a good friend. I did treasure her as a good friend.”

Gilkes never desired accolades, he said. “It wasn’t about her. It was ‘What can I do for somebody else?’ She was an advocate for everybody, a champion for everybody.”

Wilds agreed. “She was a profoundly caring person. She wanted to make sure you were satisfied at the end of the conversation.” And if there was an issue she couldn’t resolve immediately, “she’d get back to you with an answer,” he said.

John Kozar, assistant vice chancellor of Human Resources, who worked closely with Gilkes, described her as honest and genuine.

The way Gilkes answered her University phone: “Hi, this is Nancy. How may I help you?” defined her, Kozar said. “She was there to help people,” he said.

“She was obsessed about taking care of faculty and staff and students,” he said, noting that she always went above and beyond to help resolve problems.

“She was aggressive in her own way,” Kozar added, recalling how, when assisting a soon-to-be retiree, she sometimes would go so far as to escort them to the TIAA-CREF office across the street to ensure their needs were met immediately.

Most recently her work focused on helping retirees. Among her duties was conducting retiree benefits open enrollment sessions on campus and in nearby suburbs, making what could be a utilitarian presentation into a fun, interactive event featuring door prizes and, on occasion, appearances by Pitt cheerleaders or the Pitt Panther, Roc.

“She made it entertaining,” he said.

Kozar said Gilkes had a phenomenal ability to remember details about the people she interacted with. “She knew practically everyone,” he said, adding that she not only had a gift for recalling people’s names, but could remember and ask about their families and personal lives as well.

Ironically, Kozar said, while Gilkes knew a great deal about her fellow Pitt employees, she shared few details about herself.

Outside work, she was active in the Shadyside Presbyterian Church and a supporter of the Schenley Heights Community Development Program, which works with children and youth through after-school and other programming. Rev. Johnnie Monroe, SHCDP executive director, said Gilkes and her husband, Arthur, were longtime members of the nonprofit organization’s board.

“She was a strong advocate in the church and the community,” raising funds for SHCDP math and reading programs and recruiting volunteers, Monroe said. “If she set her mind on something, she went after it.”

In addition to her husband, Gilkes is survived by two sons and their wives: Arthur S. Gilkes and Rebecca Donaghue, and John G. Gilkes and Lindsey Gilkes; her father, Rev. John Mark Scott; siblings John Mark Scott Jr. and Sarah Christine Scott, and nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Schenley Heights Community Development Program’s A-STEP After School Tutorial and Enrichment Program, 3171 Ewart Drive, Pittsburgh 15219 (www.shcdp.org).

Visitation is set for 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. today, April 18, at John A. Freyvogel Sons, 4900 Centre Ave., Oakland.

A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. April 20 at Shadyside Presbyterian Church, 5121 Westminster Place.

—Kimberly K. Barlow