Dina Diane Tagliabue

Dina Tagliabue, 70, a founding member of the Mimbres Hot Springs Community, passed away January 26th at her home on the Hot Springs Ranch.

 She is survived by her husband, Robert White, her daughter Juniper and husband Jake Scherberg and grandchildren Griffin and Cora, all of Muriwai, New Zealand; daughter Tera, partner Tom Wallace, grandson Nico and soon-to-be-born granddaughter, all of Shoreline, Washington; Robert White’s son Adam White, his wife Tiana and daughters Clara and Avi, all of San Antonio, Texas; Robert’s daughter Hillary of Natalia,Texas; and Dina’s sister Francesca Gould of Providence, Rhode Island. She was preceded in death by her father John in 2006 and by her mother Grace in 2018.

Dina was born in Schenectady, N.Y. on January 7th,1950 but spent the first two years of her life in Italy, first in Fiesole and later on the island of Ischia, near Naples. The family returned to Lewiston, Maine where Dina would spend the remainder of her childhood, with the exception of the years from 1958 to 1960, when the entire family lived in Tokyo where her father was a visiting professor of English literature at Tokyo University. She graduated from Boston University in 1972 with a degree in art history. 

In 1975, Dina moved with her then-partner, Daniel Stein, to the Mimbres Valley.  Not long after their arrival, the couple moved to the newly-formed Mimbres Hot Springs Community, where their first child, Juniper, was born in November of 1976; second daughter Tera followed two years later in February of 1979. An avid potter, Dina formed part of Fire Arts Workshop with very dear friends Robin Parsons and Fred Pineda. She was a practicing potter with a passion for Mimbres design for many years until 1990, when she became a public school elementary teacher, first at 6th St. School in Silver City, and later at San Lorenzo School in the Mimbres. 

In 1983 she formed a lasting relationship with her future husband Robert White, and together they built a house at Mimbres Hot Springs .They also cultivated a large vegetable garden and Dina was a regular seller at the Silver City farmer’s market which she enjoyed greatly. In 2002, she and husband Robert moved to Italy where she taught for four years at the International School of Turin. In 2008 they moved to Castelbuono, Sicily where they purchased a rural property with an old stone building which they converted into their residence. Bob and Dina planted fruit trees, cultivated a large vegetable garden and made many friends. Dina became an Italian citizen, and they lived in Sicily until November of 2019.

Dina was a lover of people, art, beauty, life and our wonderful planet earth. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her. A memorial service is planned for July of 2020 at Mimbres Hot Springs.

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