Pat Schroeder

Patricia Schroeder, a former leading feminist legislator who helped redefine the role of women in American politics and used her wit to combat sexism in Congress, died on Monday March 13 2023 in Celebration, Fla. She was 82. A Representative from Colorado; born Patricia Nell Scott in Portland, Multnomah County, Oreg., July 30, 1940; graduated from Roosevelt High School, Des Moines, Iowa, 1958; B.A., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn., 1961; J.D., Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass., 1964; lawyer, private practice; lawyer, National Labor Relations Board, 1964-1966; teacher, 1969-1972; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-third and to the eleven succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1973-January 3, 1997); chair, Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families (One Hundred Second and One Hundred Third Congresses); was not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Fifth Congress in 1996. She taught briefly at Princeton before becoming president and chief operating officer of the Association of American Publishers, the trade association for the book publishing industry, where she served for 11 years. She married a Harvard Law School classmate, James Schroeder, in 1962. In addition to her daughter, she is survived by her husband, along with their son, Scott; Ms. Schroeder’s brother, Mike Scott; and four grandchildren.