Andrea Conte (born February 13, 1941) is the wife of former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, serving as

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. She is a 1968 graduate of the University of Washington and a registered nurse.

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 Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, she attended night classes at the Tennessee State University - Avon Williams campus and received an

M.B.A A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

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 kidnappedNashville Banner, December 7, 1988 and injured in the parking lot of her retail shop in

. She fought, and was able to escape the kidnapper’s car as it drove on the road.

Activities as First Lady

first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

, 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 Archimania is a collective of architects and designers in downtown Memphis, Tennessee’s South Main Historic Arts District. The collective was founded in 1995 and is led by Todd Walker, FAIA, and Barry Alan Yoakum, FAIA. Archimania was rank ...

References

External links

AndreaWalks - Website of Andrea Conte's walk across TennesseeYou Have the Power Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conte, Andrea 1941 births Living people First Ladies and Gentlemen of Tennessee People from Great Barrington, Massachusetts University of Washington School of Nursing alumni Tennessee State University alumni 20th-century American women 21st-century American women American women nurses 20th-century American people