What happened to Gloria Gaynor’s sister? Family trauma,  survival and more explored amid I will Survive singer’s Kennedy Center honor

Gloria Gaynor is making headlines after she was named one of the honorees for the Kennedy Center Honors by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Alongside her, the honor will also be given to country music legend George Strait, the rock band Kiss, actor Sylvester Stallone, and British actor Michael Crawford. The ceremony is scheduled to take place on December 7, 2025, in Washington D.C.

The news has brought Gloria Gaynor’s past life into the limelight, including her sister, Irma Proctor, who was murdered in 1995. As per a report in Independent, she struck up a conversation with a woman while on her way to purchase cranberry sauce.

It was Thanksgiving Day. Suddenly, a young man intervened and struck the other woman to the ground. When Proctor ran to save her, he knocked her down and stomped on her head. The incident had a deep impact on Gaynor’s life and career.

Gaynor said the following to Woman's World:

“She died the way she lived and by that I mean she was always helping people. She was just that kind of person.”

Here is what we know.

Gloria Gaynor’s family tragedy and more explored

Ever since its release, Gloria Gaynor’s 1978 song, I Will Survive, has become a global anthem. The song resonates deeply with audiences, not just as a disco track but because it calls for resilience and empowerment.

In an interview with Independent, she said:

“We all have situations and circumstances in our lives that we think are insurmountable. The song celebrates the tenacity of the human spirit to overcome. And that’s something everyone wants to feel.”

In addition to the tragedy of her sister’s death, Gaynor’s life was full of challenges. Gloria Gaynor grew up in a poor family. Her father left when her mother was pregnant with her. She had five brothers and one sister. At the age of 12, she was s*xually abused by her stepfather and later by his cousin when she was 17, as per a report in Independent.

“I didn’t talk about it to anybody because I was always afraid it would get back to my mother. This was my thinking: ‘If I tell my mother, or if someone tells my mother, she’s going to kill this person and then I’m going to be without a mother or a father.’”

Her tragedy didn’t end there. According to a report in Woman’s World, Gloria Gaynor was left paralysed after she fell from a stage in New York City in 1978. She was admitted to a hospital for 3 ½ months. However, she regained her strength to walk with time.

In 1978, she underwent surgery to remove a ruptured disc and fuse two of the vertebrae in her lower spine, as per a report in People magazine. This procedure helped her walk again. Amid her ordeal, her employees at her record label declared that “the queen is dead,” but she came back with I Will Survive, which became an instant hit.

Her 26-year marriage to Linwood Simon was also a failure. He was a subpar manager. They married in 1979. Their marriage was beautiful at the start but deteriorated with time. One of the major points of their dispute was whether to have children or not. While Gaynor desired to start a family, her husband was of a different opinion.

Things took a turn when Gaynor had a migraine attack for the second time in a span of a few days and he refused to take her to the hospital. She told People magazine that a religious awakening in the 1980s helped her find the strength to file divorce papers against Simon.

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