Pat Straub was an American author and environmentalist. Straub pioneered organic gardening during the 1960s and 1970s, years before the concept became well-known. She served as First Lady of the U.S. state of Oregon from 1975 until 1979 during the administration of her husband, GovernorBob Straub. She was later appointed to the Oregon Forestry Council.
Straub served as the First Lady of Oregon from January 1975 until January 1979 during the single term of Governor Bob Straub. During her tenure, Straub edited the Governor Straub's speeches. She also wrote a regular column in The Oregon Statesman and other newspapers, which focused on her official and personal experiences as the state's first lady. Straub also planned official functions, menus, and guests, at their private residence, a farmhouse built in 1860 in the west Salem Hills outside Salem, as Oregon did not have a governor's residence or provide official residential staff for state governors or first ladies at the time. Straub, by then a veteran of organic gardening, grew and cooked the produce for official dinners and baked bread on the farmhouse's wood-burning stove. Eggs from chickens raised by Pat Straub became a sought after item in the state capital. They proved so popular that Barbara Hanneman, Governor Straub's personal assistant, had to keep a record of who had received the first lady's organic chicken eggs. Straub publicly supported her husband's environmental policies and initiatives, including Senate Bill 100's land-use plans and a series of innovative state energy-efficiency programs. However, Pat Straub rejected calls to run for political office herself.
Later life
After leaving office, Pat and Bob Straub owned and operated several farms scattered throughout the Willamette Valley, specifically the Mid-Valley, of central Oregon. They championed strongly conservationist and pro-environmental policy issues. The couple donated ten acres of one of their farmers to the city of Salem, Oregon, which is now known as the Bob & Pat Straub Nature Park. They were also the catalyst behind the Straub Environmental Center, a facility owned by the Salem-Keizer School District. Pat Straub also served on the Oregon Forestry Council. She became a watercolorist and painter later in her life. Pat Straub died from complications of old age at the Gateway Living Residential Center in Springfield, Oregon, on September 24, 2017, at the age of 92. She was survived by five of her children - Jane Straub, Patty Straub Thomas, Peg Straub, Jeff Straub, and Mike Straub; 14 grandchildren, 31 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband, former Governor Bob Straub, who died in November 2002, and one of her six children. A memorial service was held at the Northwest Youth Corps center on October 22, 2016. Straub's death came less than one month after the passing of her successor, former Oregon First Lady Dolores Atiyeh.
