Tina was born October 11, 1937 to Veronica (Cheney) and Albert Cote.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the President, and the United States was still in the Great Depression.  Tina had an astounding memory, and spoke of her early days with family and in school.  The picture of Mom, sister Paula and parents Veronica and Albert was taken on the night before Albert went off to war, according to an inscription in Grammy Veronica's handwriting on one copy of this photo.

One wonderful story from Tina's childhood just came to light for Tina a few years ago ~ an old schoolmate from Marlborough reached out to Tina and thanked her for her kindness as a child.  Apparently Tina did not join in the teasing that other children inflicted, and even shared her paper dolls with her!  You know who you are, friend, and thank you for sharing your memory, and for the beautiful poem you wrote for Tina.  Thus began a lifetime of seeing the value in all people, and a desire to care for and help others.

Tina graduated as valedictorian from Marlborough High School in 1955, and at age 18 entered the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Hanover in 1958 to begin a long and dedicated career in nursing and public health. 

In those days, training was intensive and hands-on from the very beginning. Tina recalls being given the responsibility of caring for patients right away!  One memory was of taking care of a patient in an “iron lung,” who turned out to be the last person affected with polio to be treated in Hanover. Her training provided a number of rotations at Hitchcock affiliated hospitals including Concord State Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Cancer Research Foundation (later Dana Farber Cancer Institute), the world renowned teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, and Boston Lying In where she “loved caring for the babies” in obstetrics.

After earning her RN cap and pin she worked at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton in the outpatient care unit. She has fond memories of living along the Fenway in Boston with other young nurses, where they would walk to work, community events, and to church in Roxbury on Sundays, without feeling afraid or threatened in these areas.  She recently reflected, “I remember all the wonderful people, excellent career training, and what an adventure it was for a young woman from a small town to be in the big city.”

After five years in Boston, and the birth of her son Tad in 1963, she and first husband Thomas Dwyer moved to Hartford CT where she worked nights at St. Francis Hospital in West Hartford which she recalled as “a beautiful Catholic hospital with a large chapel where I would often visit after my shift before going home.”

Two years later the young family moved back to NH, settled in Keene and welcomed daughter Lesley.  Recently Tina said that “My greatest joy ever was to raise my children and to do my best to create a good life through the ups and downs.”  Purchasing the little white house on Mayflower Drive was one of her proudest accomplishments.  Tina said that she went to an open house, knew instantly that this home would provide some security and a "real home," so she went to her credit union and borrowed $1,500 for a down payment!  I can safely say this act of bravery and determination saved us.