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POUND RIDGE, N.Y. Longtime Pound Ridge resident Christina "Tina" Marie Rohrer died July 30 of lung cancer. She was 72.
She was born in Washington, D.C., to Col. Andrew and Mary Scheele. She traveled the world during her first 20 years due to her father's Army career. She received a bachelor's degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Virginia.
Rohrer received a Ph.D. from Harvard University, spending time at Dartmouth Medical School for part of the program. She met her husband, Dean, while studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. They married in 1969 in Thetford Center, Vt.
Throughout her life, Rohrer enjoyed downhill skiing, ocean sailing, playing bridge and doing The New York Times crossword puzzle, even the Sunday edition.
In her first career, Rohrer worked as scientist, contributing to advancements in virology at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and the Department of Viral Oncology at the Public Health Research Institute in Manhattan. She was also a recipient of a Damon Runyon Cancer Grant.
After several years' raising a family, Rohrer started a second career as an artist. In her words, art helped with her spiritual, emotional and mental health. She also said that art later helped her fight and beat breast cancer twice.
Rohrer volunteered locally and served on the Pound Ridge Library Board and at Stamford Hospital. She was a member of the Silvermine Guild Center for the Arts in New Canaan, Conn., the Loft-Artists Association in Stamford, Conn., ArtPlace in Fairfield, Conn., and NoHo Gallery in Manhattan. Rohrer also volunteered for all of these groups.
Her art was featured in The New York Times several times. In her 27 years as an artist, Rohrer participated in many shows and won numerous awards.
Rohrer is survived by her husband, Dean; two sons, Jonathan Rohrer, of Long Beach, Calif., and Jay Rohrer, of San Francisco; a daughter, Kirstin McPolin, of Navesink, N.J.; a sister, Nancy Louise Waite, of Solvang, Calif.; a brother, Drew Scheele, of Bellevue, Ore.; and five grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Hoyt Funeral Home in New Canaan. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Aloysius Church in New Canaan. Burial will follow at Pound Ridge Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Bennett Cancer Center at Stamford Hospital or the Silvermine Guild Center for the Arts.
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