Meet Curtis Sliwa’s Spouses: Koren Drayton, Lisa Evers, Mary Galda, and Nancy Regula

Curtis Sliwa, the charismatic founder of the Guardian Angels and a longtime New York City radio personality, has remained one of the most recognizable figures in the Big Apple.

He was born on March 26, 1954, in Canarsie, Brooklyn, New York City, into a working-class Roman Catholic family of Polish and Italian descent.

His father, Chester Sliwa, a Merchant Marine veteran who passed away in 2012 at the age of 92, and his mother, Frances Sliwa, who later served as the Guardian Angels’ bookkeeper, raised him with strong values of discipline and community service.

Growing up with two sisters, Sliwa showed his heroic instincts early when, as a newspaper delivery boy for the New York Daily News, he earned the title of “Newsboy of the Year” after rescuing people from a fire.

His education included St. Matthew’s Elementary School, P.S. 114, Bildersee Junior High, Brooklyn Prep—where he was expelled—and Canarsie High School, though he never graduated.

Sliwa is 71 years old. He is publicly identified as White, of Polish-Italian ethnicity, and remains a practicing Roman Catholic.

His personal life has been as colourful as his public career, marked by four marriages over the years. His first marriage to Koren Drayton was brief in the late 1970s, followed by a longer union with Lisa Evers, which lasted from 1981 until 1995.

In 2000, he married Mary Galda, with whom he had a son named Anthony, but the marriage ended in 2012. His current marriage to Nancy Regula began in 2018 and remains in effect today.

Beyond these marriages, he also shared a significant relationship with attorney Melinda Katz, with whom he had two children conceived via in vitro fertilization before their separation in 2014.

Altogether, Sliwa is a father of three, and his family life has often intertwined with his activism, legal battles, and media career.

Known for his fearless street patrols against crime, his outspoken commentary on WABC Radio, and his flamboyant public persona, Curtis Sliwa has always lived in the spotlight.

Behind the activism and the red beret is a man whose personal journey—through triumphs, controversies, relationships, and fatherhood—has been as compelling and headline-worthy as his decades of work keeping watch over the streets of New York City.

Koren Drayton

Curtis Sliwa‘s romantic story began in the mid-1970s, a time when the young activist was just starting to make waves in New York City’s gritty underbelly.

In 1976, at the age of 22, Sliwa married Koren Drayton, a woman from the Virgin Islands whom he described as the “spitting image” of his idol, Black Panther activist Angela Davis.

Smitten by her “magnificent ‘fro” and bold spirit, Sliwa saw in Drayton a kindred soul during his early days railing against urban decay. The marriage, however, was short-lived.

Lasting just one year, it ended in divorce in 1977. Details about their time together are scarce—Sliwa has called it a “love that was too early“—but he insists the split was amicable. Drayton brought a stepdaughter into the fold, though Sliwa has had no contact with either since the separation.

He has expressed openness to reconnecting, but the brevity of the union speaks to the impulsive energy of his youth.

Lisa Evers

If Sliwa‘s first marriage was a spark, his second was a full-blown blaze, fueled by shared passion for justice and the spotlight. In 1981, on Christmas Eve no less, Sliwa wed Lisa Evers, a striking model, martial arts expert, and the national director of the Guardian Angels.

Their wedding was a media spectacle, complete with tabloid frenzy and a honeymoon trip to St. Patrick’s Cathedral—straight from the altar to the airwaves, as Evers co-hosted Sliwa‘s WABC radio show, Angels in the Morning.

Evers, who briefly trained with the World Wrestling Federation, embodied the tough, no-nonsense ethos of the Angels. The couple’s 14-year marriage (ending in divorce in 1995) was marked by high-stakes activism amid New York’s crack epidemic.

Yet, it wasn’t without strain: Sliwa has attributed the split to relentless death threats from the criminals they patrolled against, which took a toll on their safety and sanity.

Evers went on to forge her own path as a journalist, appearing on FOX5 and Hot 97, while remaining a symbol of Sliwa’s early, action-hero phase of romance.

Mary Galda

By the turn of the millennium, Sliwa was a radio veteran, and his third marriage brought a sense of professional synergy. In 2000, he tied the knot with Mary Galda (née Alexander Paterson in some records), a former WABC employee who had risen to become the Guardian Angels‘ national director and CEO.

Their union blended love with leadership; Galda was a key figure in expanding the organization’s reach. The couple welcomed a son, Anthony Chester Sliwa, adding a personal anchor to Sliwa‘s public life.

For 12 years, they navigated the highs and lows of activism and broadcasting together. But cracks emerged, leading to a 2012 divorce that turned explosive.

In 2013, Galda filed a $1.4 million lawsuit against Sliwa, accusing him of being a “world-class liar” who overpaid child support to children from a previous relationship (with Guardian Angels co-founder Melinda Katz) as a ploy to drain their marital assets.

She alleged he planned to leave her for Katz, turning their split into tabloid fodder once more. Though the suit’s outcome remains private, it underscored the messy intersections of Sliwa‘s personal and professional worlds.

Nancy Regula

After three high-drama marriages, Sliwa found calmer waters with his fourth wife, Nancy Regula. The couple exchanged vows in 2018, marking a new chapter for the then-64-year-old activist.

Regula, who maintains a low profile compared to Sliwa‘s exes, is described as a supportive partner who was involved in business and community activities prior to their union.

Unlike his previous spouses, who were deeply embedded in the Guardian Angels’ orbit, Regula offers a quieter stability, helping Sliwa balance his radio rants, cat rescues, and political bids—like his 2021 run for NYC mayor against Eric Adams.

Their seven-year marriage (as of 2025) has been a source of endurance amid Sliwa‘s ongoing controversies. Regula stands by him as he continues to patrol subways and critique city hall, providing the kind of grounded love that eluded him in earlier romances.

Sliwa has hinted that this one might just be the keeper, a testament to growth in a life full of red berets and red-hot headlines. Curtis Sliwa‘s marital history is as colourful and chaotic as the streets he once patrolled—a whirlwind of passion, peril, and perseverance.

From Drayton‘s youthful spark to Regula‘s steady glow, each woman has left an indelible mark on the man who turned vigilantism into a vocation.