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BWH mourns the loss of Coraline Robateau, 56, unit coordinator for the NICU and 35-year employee of BWH. She died May 5 of cancer.
Ms. Robateau is remembered as a caring person and loving mother who worked a second job on the weekends to put her son and daughter through college. She was deeply committed to her work and always showed up early for her shift.
“Coraline did her job with tremendous heart, soul and spirit,” said Marianne Cummings, RN, nurse manager of the NICU. “Her legacy to us all is her very fine example of work ethic, dependability and attention to important details.”
As unit coordinator, Ms. Robateau was the first person families saw when they arrived at the NICU. “Coraline would always greet families warmly and chat with them about their babies,” Cummings said. “She made a very difficult time better for so many families by taking a sincere and genuine interest in them.”
Gloria Castro, Operations supervisor in the NICU, said, “She always went the extra mile for patients and colleagues.”
Ms. Robateau was steadfast in her dedication to each position she held at BWH, beginning as a unit secretary at the Boston Lying-In Hospital (one of BWH’s predecessors) in 1971 on the high-risk antenatal unit.
“As many unit secretaries came and went, Coraline was a constant,” said Detta Quigley-Lavoie, RN, nurse manager of Connors Center 7, where Ms. Robateau worked before beginning in the NICU. “She oriented many young women to this position. She was very insightful and had a keen understanding of a person’s ability to perform.”
Ms. Robateau also was famous for her collection of festive holiday accessories. “She always wore a jazzy pin or light-up beads to celebrate,” Cummings said. “And after Sept. 11, she made American flags out of safety pins and beads and gave them out to staff.”
In her spare time, she enjoyed traveling with a group of friends and visited Ireland last fall. “She just had a ball,” Cummings said.
Ms. Robateau, of Mattapan, was the daughter of Charles and Meredith Yarde; mother to Lisa and Michael; and grandmother to Mykala and Sydnee. A memorial service was held for her last week at Beulah Pilgrim Holiness Church in Roxbury.