Hutar, Patricia, 1926-2010

<p>A national player in the Republican Party, Patricia Hutar was appointed by President Gerald Ford as a leader of the U.S. delegation to the 1975 International Women's Conference in Mexico City.</p>

<p>She was a leader in the young Republicans who campaigned for Dwight Eisenhower and held top posts in presidential campaigns for Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon.</p>

<p>"Pat was a true pioneer for three causes: women's economic and political empowerment, the Republican Party and global democracy," said Bill Sweeney, president and CEO of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, where Mrs. Hutar was a founding board member.</p>

<p>Mrs. Hutar, 84, died of complications from Alzheimer's disease on Wednesday, April 14, at a Glenview nursing home, said her husband, Laddie. She was a resident of Glenview.</p>

<p>A native of Minnesota, the former Patricia Miller was working for the Girl Scouts of America and campaigning for Eisenhower in San Diego when she met her future husband, who was in the Navy.</p>

<p>The couple settled in Chicago, where she did some modeling and became a leader in the local Young Republicans organization. The tenor of the times for women is evidenced in a 1957 Tribune headline on Mrs. Hutar's activities with the group, "Pretty GOP Leader Keeps Club Busy."</p>

<p>Her leadership skills transcended her good looks — "she always low-keyed" her modeling background lest it obscure her more substantive skills, her husband said — and she served as co-chairwoman of the Illinois Goldwater for President campaign in 1964.</p>

<p>In 1964 and 1965 she was assistant chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, a major post for a woman in those days, and in 1972 she was director of volunteers for the Committee for the Re-election of the President on behalf of Richard Nixon.</p>

<p>Mrs. Hutar held leadership posts in a number of groups that sought to elevate women's status in the U.S. and around the world. At the 1975 United Nations-sponsored conference in Mexico City, part of the U.N.'s International Women's Year, she addressed those gathered on behalf of first lady Betty Ford.</p>

<p>In her own remarks, she told the assemblage: "We hope from this conference men will gain a vision of a more just society in which equality for women and participation by them will mean a more varied and equitable sharing, to the benefit of men as well as women."</p>

<p>She went on to be the first president of the United Nations Development Fund for Women.</p>

<p>Mrs. Hutar was an original board member of the International Foundation of Electoral Systems, founded in the early 1980s to support democratic elections around the world, and served as the board's chairwoman in 2001.</p>

<p>In that post and others, she traveled and spoke widely.</p>

<p>"This was a person who understood and was excited by all the positives of politics, who loved people and loved to get in the middle of decisions," Sweeney said. "She was a tireless advocate for democracy as a philosophy and a way of organizing society."</p>

<p>Mrs. Hutar is also survived by a son, John.</p>

<p>A national player in the Republican Party, Patricia Hutar was appointed by President Gerald Ford as a leader of the U.S. delegation to the 1975 International Women's Conference in Mexico City.</p>

<p>She was a leader in the young Republicans who campaigned for Dwight Eisenhower and held top posts in presidential campaigns for Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon.</p>

<p>"Pat was a true pioneer for three causes: women's economic and political empowerment, the Republican Party and global democracy," said Bill Sweeney, president and CEO of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, where Mrs. Hutar was a founding board member.</p>

<p>Mrs. Hutar, 84, died of complications from Alzheimer's disease on Wednesday, April 14, at a Glenview nursing home, said her husband, Laddie. She was a resident of Glenview.</p>

<p>A native of Minnesota, the former Patricia Miller was working for the Girl Scouts of America and campaigning for Eisenhower in San Diego when she met her future husband, who was in the Navy.</p>

<p>The couple settled in Chicago, where she did some modeling and became a leader in the local Young Republicans organization. The tenor of the times for women is evidenced in a 1957 Tribune headline on Mrs. Hutar's activities with the group, "Pretty GOP Leader Keeps Club Busy."</p>

<p>Her leadership skills transcended her good looks — "she always low-keyed" her modeling background lest it obscure her more substantive skills, her husband said — and she served as co-chairwoman of the Illinois Goldwater for President campaign in 1964.</p>

<p>In 1964 and 1965 she was assistant chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, a major post for a woman in those days, and in 1972 she was director of volunteers for the Committee for the Re-election of the President on behalf of Richard Nixon.</p>

<p>Mrs. Hutar held leadership posts in a number of groups that sought to elevate women's status in the U.S. and around the world. At the 1975 United Nations-sponsored conference in Mexico City, part of the U.N.'s International Women's Year, she addressed those gathered on behalf of first lady Betty Ford.</p>

<p>In her own remarks, she told the assemblage: "We hope from this conference men will gain a vision of a more just society in which equality for women and participation by them will mean a more varied and equitable sharing, to the benefit of men as well as women."</p>

<p>She went on to be the first president of the United Nations Development Fund for Women.</p>

<p>Mrs. Hutar was an original board member of the International Foundation of Electoral Systems, founded in the early 1980s to support democratic elections around the world, and served as the board's chairwoman in 2001.</p>

<p>In that post and others, she traveled and spoke widely.</p>

<p>"This was a person who understood and was excited by all the positives of politics, who loved people and loved to get in the middle of decisions," Sweeney said. "She was a tireless advocate for democracy as a philosophy and a way of organizing society."</p>

<p>Mrs. Hutar is also survived by a son, John.</p>