Liz VanLeeuwen

{{Infobox officeholder

| name =Liz VanLeeuwen

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| state = Oregon

| state_house= Oregon

| district = 37th

| term_start =1981

| term_end = 1999

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| party = Republican

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|11|5}}

| birth_place = Lakeview, Oregon, U.S.

| death_date= {{Death date and age|2022|11|27|1925|11|5}}

| death_place = Halsey, Oregon, U.S.

| profession = Farmer

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| alma_mater= Oregon State University

| spouse = George VanLeeuwen

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Elizabeth Susan Nelson VanLeeuwen ({{née}} Nelson; November 5, 1925 – November 27, 2022) was an American politician who was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives.{{cite web|website=state.or.us|access-date=11 March 2024

|url=https://library.state.or.us/repository/2011/201101131436324/index.pdf|title=Alphabetical List of Oregon's representatives}}

Early life and career

VanLeeuwen was born in Lakeview, Oregon, where she lived until attending Oregon State University. She received a Bachelor of Science in Home Making Education and a minor in English in 1947.{{Cite web |url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/3041/liz-vanleeuwen#.V2sRHLgrJaQ |title=Vote Smart Liz VanLeeuwen Biography |website=Project Vote Smart |language=en-US |access-date=June 22, 2016}} She married George VanLeeuwen on June 15, 1947, and was a farmer.{{cite book |year=1991 |chapter=Liz Susan VanLeeuwen (Elizabeth VanLeeuwen) |title=Who's Who of American Women, 1991-1992 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/23186551 |edition=17th |location=Chicago |last=Marquis Who's Who |page=1027 |isbn=978-0-8379-0417-7 |oclc=23186551 |access-date=April 29, 2023 |via=WorldCat}} She also was a news reporter and journalist for a newspaper in Brownsville, Oregon, from 1949 to 1970.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DLqOAAAAMAAJ&q=%22VanLeeuwen,+liz%22+1925 |title=Oregon Blue Book |year=1987 |access-date=October 10, 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/coll/vanleeuwen/biographicalnote.html |title=Biographical Note: - Liz VanLeeuwen Spotted Owl Collection, 1973-2004 - Special Collections & Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries |access-date=October 10, 2014}} She was a school teacher at Monroe High School, a substitute teacher and an adult educator in the 1950s and 1960s. She had a weekly farm report radio program on KWIL in the 1970s.

VanLeeuwen was a founding member of Oregon Women for Agriculture and a member of the Oregon Farm Bureau Women's Committee and Legislative Committee before being elected to the Oregon House of Representatives.

Political career

VanLeeuwen served as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives from 1981 to 1999.

In 1999, she was elected to the Linn County Soil and Water Conservation board and held a position there.

In 2002, VanLeeuwen ran for Oregon's 4th congressional district against Peter DeFazio (D). She lost 64% to 34%.

Personal life and death

VanLeeuwen and her husband George lived in Halsey, Oregon, and had four children. She died there on November 27, 2022, at the age of 97.{{cite web |title=Elizabeth VanLeeuwen |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/democratherald/name/elizabeth-vanleeuwen-obituary?id=38266247 |website=Legacy |access-date=December 1, 2022 |date=November 30, 2022}}

References

Category:1925 births

Category:2022 deaths

Category:Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives

Category:People from Lakeview, Oregon

Category:People from Halsey, Oregon

Category:Oregon State University alumni

Category:Journalists from Oregon

Category:Women state legislators in Oregon

Category:People from Brownsville, Oregon

Category:21st-century American women

Category:20th-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly

Category:20th-century American women politicians