Chris Gregoire > Meet Chris

Chris O’Grady was raised by a single, working mother on a family farm in Auburn.

She spent her childhood growing fruits and vegetables in the family garden and playing with her mother on the beaches of south Puget Sound. Chris spent the summers with family in Windust, a small town in Eastern Washington.

As president of the Auburn High School Girls’ Club, Chris discovered that she had a talent for negotiation. She wanted the school’s band to play at an event, but she faced stiff opposition from the school’s principal. Chris refused to back down, and finally negotiated a compromise: If the students agreed not to dance, the band could play three songs.

Chris’ high school years also witnessed her initial spark of interest in public service. In 1961, John F. Kennedy inspired the young Chris to consider a career in public office.

As the 60’s rolled on, Chris watched the first U.S. troops flying to Vietnam, where her future husband would serve in combat, and was deeply moved by Martin Luther King Jr.’s march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

After finishing high school, Chris became the first member of her family to attend college, graduating from the University of Washington in 1969. She met Mike Gregoire, a Vietnam combat veteran, in 1971. They married three years later.

In 1977, Chris went to law school at Gonzaga University in Spokane. After graduating, she started her career in Eastern Washington, working as a Law Clerk in the Spokane branch of the Attorney General’s office.

Chris also started her family in Eastern Washington. Courtney, her first of two daughters, was born in Spokane in 1979.

Showing an early disregard of partisanship, she went on to work as assistant attorney general under Republican Slade Gordon and then deputy attorney general under Republican Ken Eikenberry. In the attorney general’s office, Chris worked to protect and help children and families.