Women's rights pioneer former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder dies at 82

Former Democrat Rep. Pat Schroeder, a pioneer for family and women's rights while in Congress, has died. She was 82. 

The retired Colorado congresswoman died Monday night at a hospital in Celebration, Florida, after living in the city for the past several years, said a former Schroeder press secretary, according to the Associated Press.

Schroeder was first elected in 1972 as Colorado's first female House member. She was reelected 11 times and remained in Congress until 1997.

"Pat Schroeder blazed the trail. Every woman in this house is walking in her footsteps," Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) said after taking over Schroeder's position as the Democrat chairwoman of the bipartisan congressional women's issues caucus.