Trina was born on July 10, 1943 in Perth, Western Australia, to Arthur and Betty Dawes. Arthur was a Chief in the United States Navy and Betty was an Aussie warbride.

She grew up in San Diego County, California. She graduated in 1961 from Hilltop High School in Chula Vista, California. She enjoyed attending their annual class reunions and reconnecting with old friends.

Trina attended San Diego City College and obtained her cosmetology license. She proudly kept her license current her whole life! She was an award-winning stylist, and hairdresser to celebrities in the 1960s.

Trina was a doting fulltime mother who was very strict, but also very loving. She volunteered in all her daughter’s various activities, was a room mother, and Girl Scout leader, and taxi driver for her daughter’s (and grandchildren’s) friends.

She loved to travel and see new places and have new experiences, she loved to dance and was always ready to take to the dance floor. Trina was a gourmet cook, an excellent baker, a gracious hostess, a skilled seamstress, and she was a lifelong multimedia artist. Trina excelled at drawing life-like portraits of people, animals, and pets, in pastel, watercolor, and pencil.