Hitt, Patricia Reilly, 1918-2006

Patricia Reilly Hitt (January 24, 1918 – January 9, 2006)[1][2] was the Assistant Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under President Richard Nixon.

Hitt was born in Taft, California but grew up in Whittier, California, attending Whittier High School.

In 1972, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) degree from Whittier College.[3]

She died of natural causes on January 9, 2006, at her home in Balboa Island. Hitt was 87 years old.[4] It was noted that she had died on the date that would have been the late president's 93rd birthday. She was the highest-ranking woman in Nixon's first administration.[5]

Patricia Reilly Hitt (b. January 24, 1918, Taft, California-d. January 9, 2006, Newport Beach, California) served as national co-chair of the Nixon-Agnew Campaign in 1968, the first woman to hold the post in either party. In January 1969, the White House nominated her as Assistant Secretary for Community and Field Services (CFS), Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The post, which Hitt held until 1973, made her the highest-ranking woman in Nixon's first administration.