Patricia Hitt


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.

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 Hitt in 1964