Port Townsend, WA - Colleen passed away on April 29 in her second home in Seal Beach CA.

She lived a life full of joy and wonder, and passionately loved her friends and family. Colleen was a writer, an artist, a gardener, a walker, and a traveler. She was the queen of the Port Townsend Bay crabs, and a gatherer of mushrooms, razor clams, oysters, and shore rocks.

Colleen was born in Owatanna, MN to Aleene and Edward Wiek. She grew up in and around Minneapolis, but the farm country of southern Minnesota was always close to her heart. She graduated from Concordia College and then travelled around the United States and the world. She worked at Peoples' Company Bakery in Minneapolis where she met and married John Besser. They had a son, Alexi Besser-Wiek, in 1980.

Colleen completed a master's degree in social work at the University of Minnesota. She was a community organizer on the West Bank of Minneapolis and then worked in the Minneapolis and Wayzata school districts. Helping others, especially children, became the vocation of her professional life.

In 2001, Colleen moved to Washington state. She completed a master's degree in education psychology at Seattle Pacific University and practiced in the University Place, Lake Washington, and Kent school districts. In 2003, she married Patrick Sheahan , an old friend from the Bakery she met again after her first marriage. In 2009, they built their home in Port Townsend and Colleen worked at Blue Heron middle school until her retirement - which she enjoyed immensely.

Colleen is survived by Patrick, her sister Gina Low and brother Scott Wiek, and by her aunt and beloved friend Gina Avery. She was predeceased by her sisters Renee Lureen and Lori Norland. The death of her son Alexi in 2022 was the great tragedy of her life. Innumerable friends remember her with love and mourn her passing.

Colleen's life will be celebrated at a family gathering in New Germany, Minnesota in July and at a party and crab feast at her home in Port Townsend in August.