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A self-described tomboy and outdoorsy type as a child, retired nurse practitioner and university professor Minnie Osteyee went on to play several team sports throughout her high school and college years. Most recently, as a way to combine her athletic spirit and fondness for nature, she has taken up dragon boat racing. B
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innie Osteyee (Sand Dollar) is no ordinary grandma, and she has evidence to prove it. She remains tickled pink by a humorous birthday card sent to her last fall by her grandchildren. The greeting card poses the question, “What kind of a grandmother are you?” and points to the recipient’s lack of stereotypical characteristics, such as bluerinsed hair, strong-smelling perfume, and silk stockings gathered around the ankles. Minnie was born in Cobleskill, New York, near the capital city of Albany, and raised on a self-sustaining four-acre farm. Her mother was a homemaker, her father an employee of General Electric in Schenectady. As products of their upbringing, Minnie says she and her twin brothers grew to become a bunch of “organic kids.” While other young girls enjoyed playing dress-up or pampering baby dolls, Minnie was partial to outdoor games and sports. When she was a teenager, she preferred spending quality time with her prized and trusty horse, Thunder. “He listened to
all my problems,” she recalls, “and shook his head that he understood!” The two of them garnered countless ribbons and trophies in western riding horse shows throughout New York. As a high school student, Minnie was a member of the basketball, softball, and volleyball teams, becoming the first female to win the Athlete of the Year Award. She continued to play team sports in college.
Nursing and Teaching Minnie attended the State University of New York at Plattsburgh and the University of Rochester, earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in nursing education, respectively. During her three-month rotation as a student nurse at the Ogdensburg Psychiatric Center, Minnie met George, her future husband, who was studying civil engineering at Clarkson University in nearby Potsdam. The actual meeting, she remembers, occurred at a restaurant called Oscar’s, where she and a group of fellow student
nurses had been celebrating a classmate’s birthday. Minnie and George were married four years later. They had two children – a girl, Renee, and a boy, Ian. Minnie stayed home with her children until they went to school full time. At that time, they were the ones who encouraged her to get back to work. “They said they didn’t want me to be lonely at home,” she laughs. “So, I got back into nursing and started teaching.” Years later, when her daughter was searching for a master’s program, Minnie helped her comb through the brochures. The search led Minnie to an interest in higher education. “I ended up deciding to pursue a doctoral degree in organizational behavior.” In 1990, the very same year that her daughter received her master’s degree, Minnie earned a Ph.D. in organizational behavior and development from Syracuse University. Her dissertation, designed and carried out as a qualitative study, was titled “Academic continued next page Shell Point Life | June 2013
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