Andrea Conte

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. 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 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.