Colleen, Our Youngest Daughter

Colleen The Youngest

She was (and is) a funny caring person with a heart as big as all out of doors!

In Summary

She lwas born and raised in La Mirada with her natural mother and I for 15 years and was a wonderful child. She played sports and was an excellent dune buggy driver when she was ten years old.

In the early 1980s I knew I was not long for the marriage as her mother and I grew apart. I was the extrovert and she was ithe introvert and caused a lot of friction. I arranged for a divorce and Colleen was 15 at the time and aas expected, she "sided" with her Mom.

When I divorced in 1987, Colleen stayed with her mother and during that time she had a child, Jon.

When Sue and I found out about Jon through Mitch, my son-in-law, we offered her to come live with us instead of a home for unwed mothers in Hollywood. . She took us up on the offer and after meeting Sue decided this was a good thing to do.

Colleen was with Sue and I for several years and ultimately married Pete Chartier, a Marine and a very nice man. They were happy for years but ultimately they separated (I guess it was probably due to Peter always being gone and then when he was at home, he was a workaholic). They split in 1999 after having two additional children, Cassie and Jackie.

Colleen then met and married Mark and moved away from Los Angeles area to the State of Washington where subs were located. Mark is a wonderful man who served our country in the submarine service. Mark was a Master Chief on several boats but recently retired and is working for the Navy. He loved Colleen and loved to go on adventures, see new things, and nost importantly, make her happy.

Colleebn lives in New Hampshire where Mark was stationd when in the service. She (and Mark) have three "grown up kids" who also live nearby her in New Hampshire (Jon is 35, Cassie is 30, and Jackie 27). Here is our recent family get together in New Hampshire:

Collen has three children. Jon is on his own and is married to Sarah. Cassandra (Cassie) has two children (Calahan and Logann) now making Colleen a grandmother. Jackie is Colleen's youngest and she has turned 25 and had two amazing children, Emmy and Ashton.

Except for a short period when she was in Wqsoington, we have been fairly close and the older we get, the closer we become. I think Colleen finalluy figured out that Dad (me) was smarter than she thought!!)