Patricia Schroeder was the first Colorado woman to be elected to Congress in 1972. Prior to her retirement in 1997, she fought for women’s and family rights during her 12 terms in the House of Representatives.
Schroeder, who refused to participate in the “good old boys’ club,” rose to prominence in the feminist movement and compelled the government to accept that women had an equal place in society as men.
The former lawmaker passed away in Celebration, Florida, on March 14 at the age of 82, according to a number of sources. Schroeder passed away on Monday night, according to Andrea Camp, the former politician’s press secretary. Schroeder had recently experienced a stroke.
Rest in Peace Pat Schroeder. The former Democrat Congresswoman was the first female U.S. Representative elected from Colorado and third youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) March 14, 2023
She defeated her Republican challenger in a year when she was given no chance to win. She fought for… https://t.co/DadcLPQcsT pic.twitter.com/3vKAI5UjVQ
Schroeder was described as a trailblazer by her successor on the bipartisan congressional caucus on women’s issues, former representative Nita Lowey (D-NY). Every woman in the Lower Chamber, according to Lowey, is “walking in her footsteps.”
Ed Krassenstein, a freelance journalist, referred to Schroder as a genuine superhero.
The former congresswoman wrote a book on how difficult it was to work in a male-dominated system and how slowly change occurs in the federal government after she retired in 1997. “24 Years of Housework and the Place is Still a Mess. My Life in Politics,” is the title of her piece.
She was the first woman to serve on the House Military Services Committee, but she was forced to share the chair because, according to her, the committee chairman didn’t think she belonged there because of her gender.
Even Schroeder attempted to run for president in the late 1980s but gave up because she wasn’t interested. The “Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993,” which provided leave and employment protection for employees so they could care for newborns, ill children, or elderly parents, was her greatest victory.
