Mary Kay Reich, a former two-term Monroe County commissioner known for her pragmatism and being a friend of the working class, is dead at age 76.

Reich lapsed into a coma after surgery to remove bone spurs in her neck Tuesday at Palm West Hospital in Wellington and died Wednesday morning, according to her former secretary, Donna Hanson, who worked with Reich for six years and now serves as secretary to county Mayor Sylvia Murphy.

Word of Reich's passing rippled through the Florida Keys on Wednesday and was acknowledged by Murphy during a Monroe County Commission meeting at the Murray Nelson Government Cultural Center.

Reich, a Realtor by profession, served on the County Commission from 1992 to 2000. She first won the District 5 seat by upsetting incumbent Commissioner John Stormont. In 1996 she won re-election by defeating Larry Lawrence, who was retired from what now is called the Florida Fish Wildlife Conservation Commission.

"She was known as 'Madame No,' " Hanson said. "She wouldn't vote on anything unless there was money in the bank. She was always out to help the little guy. She would visit a constituent's home with [former Growth Management Director] Bob Herman if they were stuck in limbo over a building issue. She always did her homework. She was always prepared."

County Commissioner George Neugent served with Reich from 1998 until her defeat by the late Murray E. Nelson.

"Commissioner Reich was known as 'Commissioner No' because of her astute attention to expenses and cost, and her known forthcoming question at the end of the discussion, 'Where is the money coming from?'

"Mary Kay Reich, for me, was, if you didn't know her, difficult to get to know. However, in hindsight, I grew to respect her attentiveness to fiscal issues and wish she would have been re-elected to her post."

She was a "tuned-in" advocate for senior citizens, Neugent added.

"She had a tremendous rapport with the Alliance for Aging Older Americans, who held her in great esteem for the work she did," he said.

Former Commissioner Keith Douglass said he was honored to serve with her.

"I sat next to her on the commission and she was always prepared. She thought out the issues and voted the position she took," he said. "She represented the common person, the working folks, the people who make the Keys special. Regardless of the issue, it was apparent that she genuinely cared about people."

Former Commissioner Shirley Freeman said she also respected her former colleague.

"Mary Kay and I were often on opposing sides of a vote, but we respected one another's beliefs and respected one another's integrity," she said. "She held very strongly to her values, and her constituents could depend on her."

Reich was a traveler and often left the Keys for a trip to some exotic destination. Her best friend, Karen Wilkinson, recalls traveling with Reich to France, Germany, Las Vegas and South America.

"I've known Mary Kay since 1985," she said. "We were both in real estate together in Marathon. She was always there for people. I remember her saying, 'What can I do for you? How can I help?' That's the kind of woman she was."

Reich, originally from Auburn, N.Y., moved to the Keys with her husband, the late Billy Ballard, and three children. She later was divorced and married Capt. Richard Reich. They had six children together.

Final arrangements have not been made, but the funeral tentatively is expected to be shortly after Thanksgiving.

Citizen staff writer Timothy O'Hara contributed to this report.

sgibbs@keysnews.com