Where to even start...Colleen was born to Margaret and Leo Wilmarth on Christmas day in 1944. She was blessed to have older siblings delighted at her arrival. Loran and Kenny Fickle and Emogene and Leland Wilmarth. She was delighted with living on a farm squishing cow patties between her toes, yet always into fashion, music, and all the latest trends. She was a majorette, on the homecoming court, in band, and always involved with school, friends, and having fun. She was lucky enough to marry her best friend and celebrate 45 beautiful years with him. The marriage they had is one to be admired. Never have I, nor will I ever see a love like theirs. My Dad loved her in a way that would shine through her. Their love for each other helped make her who she was. To know her, was to love her. No matter where they roamed between Texas & Michigan, she always made lifelong friends, not to mention the ones she made as a child that she kept her entire life. She touched the lives of everyone she met in one way or another. She was a fantastic cook...especially desserts!! She was loving, faithful, the epitomy of strength, a woman of God with a faith most of us can only hope to achieve. She was the definition of UNCONDITIONAL LOVE and taught us all the exact meaning of that and to live by it. She was her family's biggest fan and cheerleader, yet never afraid to let us know when we were in the wrong and how we could make ourselves better. She was so versatile...the woman had her hair, nails and face done every single day, yet I vividly remember her on her knees picking the "nighteyes" off my horse's legs during fair days! She had a sense of humor with no end and loved to laugh...,many times even at herself! She kept that until the end...as she came home with hospice and the nurse asked her what she needed, her response while laughing was "well I don't know, I've never been dying before." Even at the end, she kept that humor. As much as death pains us left behind, she welcomed it. She welcomed getting to spend the rest of her days with Jesus, she shared his birthday her entire life, and now in death she gets to share his presence. That conforted her, as it does us, no matter how difficult it is to let her go. She was a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a nana, as well as a teacher...she taught us all so much, except how to live without her.
