Colleen Anne O’Toole
February 23, 1956 – November 05, 2021
It was the warmest summer of the 1980s. While playing a pick-up game of softball in Bannerman Park I spotted this young woman walking towards me. After talking for a while, I didn’t see her again for some time, but I knew she was someone special. Little did I know this meeting would blossom into a courtship and a 34 year-long loving relationship.
Colleen and I were married in the Basilica on September 26th, 1992, with the blessings of the O’Toole and Palmer families. We spent the next 29 years happily living in Bauline overlooking the harbour and Conception Bay.
Last Friday, on Guy Fawkes night (November 5th), we lost Colleen to pancreatic cancer after a 1 ½-year illness which she fought against so bravely. She was more concerned about my future and well-being once she was gone than her own debilitating condition. After choosing to spend her remaining time at home, Colleen Anne O’Toole stopped breathing at 5 o’clock in the morning without any pain, with her cat, Guinness, lying across her legs and me holding her hand.
Colleen was loved and cherished by her brothers David (deceased), Dan (Janice), Rob, Brian (Pudge), Bill and Paul, her cousins Sheila in Texas, Greg and Murray in Washington state, and the Murphy clan in B.C and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, my step-children Andy (New York), Catriona (Toronto), Ken (St. John’s) and Keith (Toronto) – who have been my rock particularly for the last several months – my cousin Marjorie in Lancashire, England, and Colleen’s many nieces and nephews spread across Canada, especially Liam Francis and Keleigh Anne of Peterborough, Ontario, who came with their partners, Julia and Alec, on holiday to St. John’s in September so they could see their aunt one last time. During the late summer and fall we had a steady stream of family and close friends visiting from which Colleen drew great comfort.
Special thanks go to Colleen’s long-time friend Janet of Halifax and close friend Beverley of Southlands, who both spent valuable time with her during the particularly hard times in October and November.
I am indebted to so many people, especially in Bauline, including Bill and Sharron, Cynthia and Gerald, Pearl and Marven, Bob and Paula, and “girlfriend” Allison, as well as in St. John’s, including Debra and Lionel, Donna Lee and David, Mary, Judy, Blake and Linda, Helen and Sandy, Boyd and Marilyn, and members of the Newfound Riders motorcycle riding group, especially Mel who came to visit her so often during her illness.
The medical professionals at Eastern Health were exceptional throughout Colleen’s illness. I would like to single out her GP, Dr Scott Moffatt of the Health Sciences’ Family Practice Unit, and community health nurses in Torbay, Paulette and Celia, for attention beyond the call of duty, as well as Dr Bruce Dalton and his colleagues at the Palliative Care and H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Centres in St. John’s.
Colleen has been cremated, but there will be no wake or funeral service. Instead, at a future date and a venue yet to be determined, we will have an evening of music, poetry and stories where friends and family will be able to celebrate Colleen’s life. While we grieve her passing, she hoped once she was gone that we will carry on with our lives through smiles, laughter and love.
Anyone wishing to pay their respects can do so on-line at Caul’s Funeral Home on LeMarchant Road (cauls.ca) or in a Book of Remembrance at the house on Wester Point Lane, Bauline.
Chris Palmer
“If there is another world she lives in bliss; if there is none, she made the best of this” Robert Burns
2021
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Colleen Anne O’Toole 2021..
Décès pour la Ville: Torbay, Province: T-N