Colleen Mead

Ilwaco resident Colleen G. Mead passed away Dec. 8, 2014, at the age of 86. Born March 2, 1928, in New Ulm, Minn., to Robert Grussendorf and Myrtle Johnson Grussendorf. Colleen grew up on the family farm with her three siblings, and graduated from New Ulm High School in 1945. The Minnesota farm girl became a Coast Guard wife in 1950 when she married Stanley W. Mead in San Diego, Calif. Their only child, Stanley W. "Bill" Mead, Jr., was born in 1956. Coast Guard duties took the Mead family from California to Hawaii, then to various posts around the Pacific Northwest, then to Philadelphia, and finally back to Washington. No matter where she lived, Colleen was always a homebody, focusing her energies on cooking, keeping house, and caring for her family. She was a master at putting a large meal on the table with everything piping hot all at once. A true child of the Depression, she was always frugal, saving and reusing everything, often in creative ways. Colleen had a quirky sense of humor and her own unique take on events large and small. The Mead family called Ilwaco home during two tours of duty at Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment-first in the 1960s and then again in the 1970s, when Lt. Commander Mead served as Commanding Officer until his retirement in 1975. Colleen was preceded in death by her brother, Bobby Grussendorf; her husband, Stanley Mead; and her son, Bill Mead. She is survived by her sister, Ferne Kalberg; brother, David Grussendorf; grandson, Aaron Mead; granddaughter, Hannah Mead; and numerous nieces and nephews. Her remains will be placed alongside Stanley's in the columbarium at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, Calif.