Board of Directors

Andrew C. Spacone, President of the Board of Directors

Andrew is Deputy General Counsel & Assistant Secretary for Textron Inc. He is a 1977 cum laude graduate of the University of Buffalo Law School, where he was articles editor of the Buffalo Law Review. He also holds a master’s degree in history from the University of Buffalo, where he was a teaching fellow and PH.D candidate before being drafted into the Army, and a bachelors of science degree from Canisius College, from which he graduated cum laude. Andrew retired from the United States Army Reserve with the rank of Colonel and his awards include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service, Army Commendation, two oak leaf clusters, and the Overseas Medal. He also was an honor graduate of the Army’s Command and General Staff College and a certified military instructor. Andrew is a past Director of the Providence Children’s Museum, the Providence YMCA Advisory Board and the US District Court for Rhode Island Advisory Group. He is a current member of the Roger Williams Law School Advisory Board. He joined the Steere House Board in 2006.

Timothy J. Reiner, Vice President of the Board of Directors

Tim was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2002 and is a member of the Finance Team. He serves on the Executive Board of the Steere Family Association; their roots dating back to before the American Revolution. Tim serves on the Board of the Smithfield Police Pension Committee and Smithfield Fire Pension Committee. Tim’s community involvement also includes working with youth as the Vice-President of the Smithfield Little League and board member of the Smithfield Youth Basketball League (SYBA).

Edwin F. Hallenbeck, Treasurer of the Board of Directors

Following a career in college and university administration, Ted engaged in organizational development and fund raising consulting. He was Vice President of Roger Williams College in Bristol, Rhode Island and Director of Research for the University of Rhode Island. Ted was ordained a deacon in 1985. He served as President of the North American Association for the Diaconate as Executive Director of the National Center for the Diaconate in Providence. He is a Deacon at St. Luke’s Church, East Greenwich and Trustee of the South Providence Neighborhood Ministries. In 1999, Ted was appointed to the Board of Directors at Steere House. He serves on behalf of Steere House as Board member to The Seasons, a non-profit assisted living and memory impaired care residence in East Greenwich.

Diane Steere Nobles, Ph.D., Secretary of the Board of Directors

Dr. Steere Nobles joined the Board of Directors of Steere House in 2005 and serves on the Ethics and Education and Clinical Research Committees. Professionally, Dr. Steere Nobles is the Director of the Secondary/Postsecondary Articulation for Technology Education Consortium, a statewide technical education reform project, at Community College of Rhode Island. She received her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in College Station in Educational Human Resource Development, her master’s degree from Northeastern State University in Community College Education and Student Personnel Services, and her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Rhode Island (URI) in Education and Sociology. She serves on several statewide educational boards and is active locally having served on the School Committee and in many church and community leadership positions.

Norma J. Owens, Pharm.D., BCPS, FCCP, Immediate Past President of the Board of Directors

Dr. Owens is a professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the University of Rhode Island (URI) and a Geriatric Clinical Pharmacy Consultant at Rhode Island Hospital. She is an author of the chapter “Drugs and the Elderly” in the fourth and fifth editions of the Clinical Aspects of Aging and is the immediate past Chair for the Geriatric PRN of ACCP. Presently, she is a co-investigator for the Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center at URI and is a member of the Aging and Health Promotion Team of  URI’s Health Promotion Partnership. Dr. Owens received her B.S., Pharmacy from the University of Arizona, Doctor of Pharmacy, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and completed her Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Hartford Hospital. She served as President of the Steere House Board of Directors from 2004 - 2010 and has been a Board member since 1999.

Dee Canitez

Dee is a recent appointment to the Board of Directors.  She is an Account Executive of one of the largest brokerage firms in the region, USI New England, and has been in the health care industry for more than 15 years.   Prior to USI, Dee worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island and United Healthcare of New England.  While there, she successfully implemented a new, self-directed customer relations unit, as well as held key account management positions in Sales and Marketing.

Robert Kohn, MD

Dr. Kohn is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University. He is a geriatric psychiatrist at Butler Hospital in Providence and the Director of the Brown University Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program. He is also a consultant to the World Health Organization. Dr. Kohn received his bachelor’s and medical degrees from the University of Illinois and his psychiatry specialty training at Brown University. He also has a graduate degree from Columbia University. Dr. Kohn’s research focuses on geriatric psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology. He has over 60 publications in medical journals and books. He has been a member of the board of Directors at Steere House since 1998.

Sharon Sutton

An educator for fifteen years, Sharon is an English teacher at the Exeter West Greenwich (EWG) Regional Senior High School.  At EWG, Sharon is an advisor to Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and serves on the Senior Project and Advisor/Advisee commitees. A fellow of the National Writing Project since 1998, she is currently pursuing her Master's in Advanced Studies in Teaching & Learning at Rhode Island College.  Sharon received her bachelors of science degree in English Education, summa cum laude from the University of Rhode Island (URI). Apart from her work in education, Sharon has worked as an assistant vice president in trust administration.  Residing in East Greenwich, she is married and the mother of two daughters.  Sharon was appointed to the Board of Directors in September 2008.