Gary Eads was born March 6, 1944. He was an air traffic controller at the Kansas City Air Route Traffic Control Center for ten years, and he became Central Region Vice President of PATCO in 1978. PATCO went on strike in August of 1981 over the issue of poor safety conditions. President Ronald Reagan ordered the air traffic controllers back to work, and those who refused were fired. In 1982, Eads became president of PATCO, but the organization went bankrupt and was decertified six months after he was elected.
From the description of Gary Eads Papers, 1968-1982 (bulk 1973-1981) (University of Texas at Arlington). WorldCat record id: 744960346