Patricia Castro
Patricia (Steiner) Castro was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1950 she moved to Tucson, Arizona, and met and married Raul Castro. She operated the “El Milagro Pony Farm” in Tucson during the 1950s and early 1960s. When Raul was appointed as U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador in 1964, Patricia and her daughters Mary Pat and Beth followed him to his new post. One of the duties of the wife of an ambassador is to entertain distinguished visitors. Over the years, she hosted an assortment of official dinners, teas, and parties during the ambassadorial appointments to El Salvador, Bolivia, and Argentina. One highlight of her time in El Salvador was the official visit of President Lyndon B. Johnson along with his daughter and his wife, Lady Bird. Lady Bird Johnson later was Patricia Castro’s guest in Phoenix in 1975.
Patricia Castro also hosted a number of official functions during her husband’s term as Arizona governor and she undertook several projects while she was Arizona’s First Lady. Some of these projects included overseeing the restoration of the State Capitol, having the Navajo Code Talkers’ and Arizonan Medal of Honor recipients’ names inscribed on the Arizona’s War Heroes Memorial, having the silver service from the U.S.S. Arizona refurbished and placed on display in the State Capitol, and serving as chairperson of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial Committee.
