July 21, 1941 – February 16, 2022
On behalf of our family, we are sad to announce the passing of Colleen Alice Patrick on February 16, 2022, who succumbed to her battle with Alzheimer’s.
Born on July 21, 1941, in Los Angeles, Colleen and her parents, Woody and Virginia Patrick, moved to her beloved mountains in 1956. Colleen was in the second graduating class of Rim High School in 1959.
While in high school, she worked at the Raven Hotel (now the Saddleback Inn) and Santa’s Village. She was very active in school planning many social events and worked on the annual as business manager in her senior year.
Colleen was also a Senior Class Rep., sang in the Glee Club and participated in the senior play. She participated in the Girls Athletic Association her sophomore, junior and senior years. She was also involved in writing the lyrics for the RHS Alma Mater with Becky Nesmith under the guidance of their English teacher, Joe Matthews.
After graduating high school, her parents treated her to a cruise where she toured Europe solo. Upon returning to the United States, she married and moved to New Zealand for several years where she gave birth to her twin boys, Patrick and Gregory. Less than a year later, the family returned home to the mountains, and two years later Colleen gave birth to her daughter, Elizabeth, at Santa Anita Hospital, now Mountains Community Hospital.
She worked several years in local real estate, at the Mountain News and helped start the Mountain Shopper. Coming up with “fake ads” had people diligently searching through the publication weekly to win movie tickets. Colleen then worked for the school district, first as Food Services Director and then as administrative assistant to the superintendent. She coordinated efforts in passing the School Board Bond Measure V and ended her career as the public information officer for the district. Colleen was instrumental in revitalizing the Rim of the World Scholarship Council and gave many a night reading over potential candidates for scholarships.
While working for the school district, her extracurricular activities included acting as drill instructor for the Lake Arrowhead Precision Snow Shovel Drill Team. This set of locals snapped their shovels along Colorado Boulevard in the annual Pasadena Doo Dah Parade.
The team was always a favorite in the Crestline Jamboree Days, Running Springs Mountain Top Days and the Blue Jay Christmas Parade.
Colleen was a breast cancer survivor and participated in a trial for Loma Linda breast cancer proton treatment.
Colleen is survived by her three children – twins Patrick and Gregory Nowak and Elizabeth Harryman – along with her seven grandchildren, Ryan, Tyler, Brennan, Riley, Keaton, Stetson and Jenna.
A time of remembering Colleen will be held on St. Patrick’s Day.
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