Eleanor B Strathman, MD

Eleanor B. Strathman, MD, a longtime Placer County resident, died peacefully at her Rocklin, CA home on October 25, 2025 at the age of 100 years. Eleanor was born in Lehigh, Iowa on May 5, 1925. She was the oldest of four children. Her family of six was packed into a small 2-bedroom house with no indoor plumbing, save for a hand pump. A wood stove provided heat and a means to cook. A neighbor’s telephone allowed the weekly grocery order to be called in for delivery. Despite her father’s belief that “you don’t need an education to peel potatoes”, Eleanor had other plans. Inspired by the town’s physician, she decided at age 12 that she would become a medical doctor. She graduated as a high school valedictorian and left rural Lehigh for the University of Iowa where she worked her way through college and medical school. She married Benjamin Strathman while in medical school. Their daughter Nancy was born in 1949 during her final year of medical training. 

Following graduation from medical school and internship in Ohio, the family moved to Sacramento. Eleanor and Ben were both employed at McClellan AFB. Son John came along in 1955. The family moved to Auburn, CA in 1957. Eleanor began a long career at DeWitt State Hospital where she served as a psychiatrist. She completed a residency in psychiatry at Napa State Hospital in the early 1960s. When Dewitt closed, she was appointed as a psychiatrist at the Placer County Mental Health Clinic in Auburn. She retired in 1975. 

Throughout her professional life and into retirement, Eleanor was active in clubs and community work. In the early 1970s, she was instrumental in setting up and maintaining a training program for the Auburn Hot Line and Rape Crisis Center. She was an active member of the Business and Professional Women’s Club of Auburn, the Sunset Whitney Women’s Club, Soroptimist International, and the South Placer Republican Women’s Club. She served on the board of Placer Senior Services. She volunteered at the Rocklin Library and worked in the kitchen at St. Vincent de Paul in Roseville. 

Eleanor was a gifted artist in anything to do with textiles. She sewed, quilted, did needlepoint and cross stitch, knitted, crocheted, and tatted. She spun fibers from flax, fleece, even Samoyed dog hair from which she knitted into a very warm sweater. She wove fabric on a large 8-harness loom. In her later years, she took up rug hooking and produced lovely rugs and wall art. She made beautiful baskets from pine needles. She taught fiber crafts and exhibited her work in shows. Eleanor was an active member of the Camelia City Rug Hooking Guild, the Sacramento Weavers & Spinners Guild and the Sacramento Center for the Textile Arts. 

Eleanor was also a dedicated member of the Shepherd of the Sierras Presbyterian Church in Loomis, CA. She was ordained as a Deacon and later Elder of the church. 

Eleanor is survived by her daughter Nancy Regan of Fair Oaks, CA, son John Strathman of Anacortes, WA, granddaughters Kelly Regan-Brown of Sacramento, CA, Gina Strathman of Santa Rosa, CA, and great granddaughter Mary Eleanor Brown of Sacramento, CA. 

A celebration of life service will be held at 11:00 am, November 21, 2025 at Shepherd of the Sierras Presbyterian Church, 5400 Barton Road, Loomis, CA 95650. A reception will follow at noon.