Kate de Romero, also known as Doña Kate and Kate Romero, is the wife of former Puerto Rico Governor

Carlos Romero Barceló Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló (September 4, 1932 – May 2, 2021) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1977 to 1985. He was the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party (PNP). He al ...

and served 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 ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

from 1977 to 1985. She also served as a Trustee of the

Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico ( es, Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico) is a private, nonprofit organization protecting natural areas; constituting conservation easements; restoring, rehabilitating and preserving historical struct ...

from 1999 to 2008.

Biography

Gale Norton and Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico members

Romero was born as Kathleen Donnelly in Baldwin, a hamlet on New York's

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. While working as a secretary in Manhattan, she went on vacation to Puerto Rico and became interested in living there. After a second vacation, she got a telephone book for Puerto Rico and sent letters to 35 companies to ask about a job. Only two companies replied to her letters, including the

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

branch of the First National City Bank. She was invited for an interview and traveled back to Puerto Rico, after which she was hired. Several years later, while living in Puerto Rico, she met lawyer

and they got married 18 months later, in 1966. Romero Barceló became Mayor of San Juan in 1969 and in 1976 he was elected Governor of Puerto Rico, making Romero the territory's First Lady. While serving as First Lady, she advocated for the disabled, the elderly, and better education. She supports the movement to grant statehood to Puerto Rico. In 1999, Romero was appointed to the board of trustees of the

. She was reappointed to a second, three-year term in 2005. During her term, she supported issues relating to the environment, the arts, the rights of the disabled, parks, children's causes, education, and Puerto Rico's cultural, historic and artistic heritage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Romero, Kate Living people First Ladies and Gentlemen of Puerto Rico People from Baldwin, Nassau County, New York Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Puerto Rican women 21st-century Puerto Rican women