Andrea Conte

Andrea Conte
Andrea Conte
First Lady of Tennessee
	In role; January 18, 2003 – January 15, 2011
Governor	Phil Bredesen
Preceded by	Martha Sundquist
Succeeded by	Crissy Haslam
First Lady of Nashville
	In role; September 27, 1991 – September 24, 1999
Preceded by	Betty Boner[1]
Succeeded by	Debbie Purcell
Personal details
Born	February 13, 1941; Great Barrington, Massachusetts, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Phil Bredesen (1974–present)
Children	Benjamin (b. 1980)
Education	University of Washington; University of Tennessee downtown Nashville campus
Occupation	Nurse

Andrea Conte (born February 13, 1941) is the wife of former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, serving as First Lady of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. She is a 1968 graduate of the University of Washington and a registered nurse. Not to be confused with the field hockey player from Villanova University.

Early history and education

Andrea Conte was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, to Louis and Roaslie Conte. She spent her childhood in Great Barrington, graduating from Searles High School in 1958. She trained as a nurse at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, MA, receiving her RN in 1961 and subsequently her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1968. After moving to Nashville, she attended night classes at the Tennessee State University - Avon Williams campus and received an M.B.A degree in 1983.

Marriage and family

Andrea Conte and Philip Bredesen were married in Wheatley, Oxfordshire, England on November 22, 1974. Bredesen was working in the United Kingdom at the time. She has retained her own name. Following their marriage, she obtained a job with Hospital Corporation of America in Nashville, TN, and the couple moved to Tennessee in 1975. They have one son, Benjamin (b. 1980).

Kidnapping

On December 7, 1988, she was kidnapped[2] and injured in the parking lot of her retail shop in Nashville. She fought, and was able to escape the kidnapper’s car as it drove on the road.

Activities as First Lady

As first lady, she continued her work on victims' rights issues, a commitment that arose from her 1988 kidnapping. In 2004, she walked 605 miles across Tennessee (from Memphis to Bristol) to spotlight and raise funds for child advocacy centers in her state. She is a frequent speaker on these and other subjects, both in and outside of Tennessee.

She also headed a project to restore and renovate the Tennessee Governor's Residence. The renovation includes a subterranean addition built underneath the Residence's front lawn called Conservation Hall, designed by the Memphis architecture firm archimania.[3]

gollark: Wide deployment, I mean.

gollark: These things always take a while to actually be usable. I expect it's a year out.

gollark: The "other ones lasted longer than a year so the estimates are too optimistic" thing ignores the fact that we can develop vaccines now.

gollark: I find running really boring. Also most exercise-y stuff.

gollark: "Everyone should climb" sounds like one of those "I like this so surely everyone does" statements.

References

"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-03-06. Retrieved 2017-03-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Nashville Banner, December 7, 1988
Locker, Richard (29 September 2009). "Memphians planned governor's mansion change: Architects envisioned underground spaces". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 7 May 2010.

External links

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[1] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-03-06. Retrieved 2017-03-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[2] Nashville Banner, December 7, 1988

[underground-3] Locker, Richard (29 September 2009). "Memphians planned governor's mansion change: Architects envisioned underground spaces". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 7 May 2010.