Quie, Gretchen

Gretchen Quie, Minnesota's First Lady from 1979 through 1982, was born in Waverly, Iowa, on August 4, 1927, the daughter of Ella and Sam Hansen. Before moving to Minneapolis in 1937, the Hansens lived in Harmony and Benson, Minnesota, where Sam Hansen was a school superintendent. Gretchen graduated from Central High School in Minneapolis in 1945, where she was vice-president of the senior class and art editor of the school yearbook. Also during her high school years, Gretchen's art work won first prize in a statewide poster contest.

Gretchen attended St. Olaf College between 1945 and 1948, where she studied art, edited the yearbook and literary magazine, served as vice-president of the junior class, and became acquainted with Al Quie. Gretchen left St. Olaf a year short of graduation to marry Al Quie in June 1948 and became a farm wife. For ten years the Quies farmed the family farm in Rice County, near Dennison, Minnesota. Besides driving trucks and tractors, feeding animals, tending gardens, canning, and cooking, Gretchen was busy rearing the eldest four (Frederic, Jennifer, Daniel, and Joel) of her five children. During these years, Gretchen Quie was also involved in church and civic affairs as a Luther League advisor and president of the Dennison Study Club.

In February 1958, Al Quie was elected Minnesota's First District congressman in a special election to fill the term of August Andresen, who had died the previous month. After Al Quie was re-elected to his own term in November 1958, The Quies moved to Washington, D.C. While being a congressman's wife was a very different experience, some things did not change. Gretchen was active in the Lutheran Church, participated in several congressional wives clubs, and was able to pursue her art interests. She designed a six-panel folding screen depicting the twelve Apostles, as well as a stained glass window, and assisted in the construction of ten banners for the national convention of the Lutheran Church in America. Gretchen also did volunteer work at a nursing home, delivered Meals on Wheels, and taught painting and arts and crafts, and in addition took classes on her own. She finished her B.A. in art at St. Olaf College in 1971, as well as classes at the University of Maryland (1970-1971), Montgomery College (1972-1974), and at the Antioch College Visual Arts Center in Columbia, Maryland (1975-1978). Her art work won some awards and over 50 of her paintings were sold. Also while in Washington, D.C., son Ben was born (1962) and Gretchen was president of the Montgomery Potters (1976-1977).

In 1978, after 20 years in Congress, Al Quie decided to run for Governor of Minnesota and was elected along with fellow Republicans Rudy Boschwitz and David Durenburger (the U.S. Senate candidates). As First Lady, Gretchen Quie tried to make the Governor's Residence more presentable and hospitable to all Minnesotans. Repairs and remodeling were started and public tours begun. A management committee for the Governor's Residence, now known as the Governor's Residence Council, was established and the Quies started a program called "Overnight at the Mansion" in which everyday people who met certain arbitrary criteria, such as a retired teacher with brown eyes or people having a phone number ending in three, were invited to dinner, entertainment, and an overnight stay at the Governor's Residence. While staying largely out of her husband's political affairs, Gretchen did have influence on the Quie administration in less direct ways as the host of this program and by bringing various other issues to her husband's attention. During her time as first lady, Gretchen wrote (or helped write) two books. One was an autobiography entitled In the Potter's Hand (Augsburg Publishing, 1981), and the other a book of recipes and anecdotes from past governors who had also resided at the governor's mansion, entitled The Governor's Table (Bolger Publishing, 1981).

From the guide to the Gretchen Quie papers, 1930-1984 (bulk 1979-1982)., (Minnesota Historical Society)