Colleen Wyatt Conoley Colleen Wyatt Conoley died at her home on February 24, 2009. She died peacefully in her bedroom with family surrounding her. Her free, adventuresome spirit joined her husband Gilbert who died last May. They lived and loved for more than 65 years. Most of all they loved each other but they also loved their children, Jill, Collie and Catherine, their children-in-law, Tom, Jane and Michael, their grandchildren, Brian, Colleen, Collin, Will, and Gilbert and their great-grandchildren Haley and Michael. An enormous circle of friends from her childhood to her last years will miss her. Colleen was born on November 15, 1922 to Collie and Nola Wyatt in Beaumont, Texas. She spent a happy childhood in Beaumont at the center of an extended family. Memories of trips to the beach, of weeks at Camp Fern, of friends who always seemed to be present provided the stories that she told again and again to children and grandchildren. At sixteen, she graduated from Beaumont High School and moved to Georgetown to attend Southwestern University. There she met Gilbert; this began a loving and tempestuous relationship that continued throughout her life. World War II separated them briefly; Gilbert went into the Navy and Colleen transferred to the University of Arkansas where she earned a degree in journalism. After finishing school in 1943, Colleen, her friend Hortense and two young men drove a convertible from Beaumont to Farragut, Idaho where she married Gilbert who was stationed there at a naval base. Two constants in her life came together then-Gilbert and convertibles. A third constant was added soon, an orange tabby named Turnip. Colleen was never without Gilbert, without a convertible, or without a cat for the rest of her life. Although marriage was the grounding force in her life, Colleen was also a woman with an identity as an intellectual. Although she thought of herself first and fore- most as a psychologist, she worked as a journalist, as a teacher, as a librarian, and as a school counselor. Colleen earned a Ph.D. in 1966 in educational psychology from the University of Texas and began a career at South West Texas State University. Colleen taught undergraduate and graduate students for thirty years. Her students became teachers and counselors all over the state. Her recognition of their individual gifts and her enthusiasm for her profession made many students friends for life. Colleen was especially important to the women she worked with. Both her colleagues and her students saw her as a support, as a model and as an example of what could be done. In a time when women were first emerging as leaders on university campuses, she became a professor and a department chair. Her voice always advocated for opportunities for intelligent, ambitious women and for their growing role in academia and in the public schools. Life for Colleen and Gilbert was not only about love and work. Their playful spirit set an example for their children and their friends. Boats were a huge part of their lives. Their first houseboat was on Lake Travis when they lived in Georgetown. Weekends were spent floating on the water with friends and family. When they moved to San Marcos in 1966, one of their first tasks was to build a houseboat on Canyon Lake with two other families. Sailboats on Canyon Lake came later when Gilbert and Colleen sailed catamarans and twenty-six foot sailboats. After Gilbert learned how to sail bigger boats on the ocean, Colleen and Gilbert bought a boat in the Virgin Islands for their retirement home. Season after season they flew to St. Thomas and lived for months at a time on the Sun Cat, a 34 foot sailboat. Season after season friends from all over came down to the Virgin Islands to partake of this wonder time of life. Finally, no one can talk of Colleen without talking of her love of her grandchildren. Her home was always a second home and playground for them. Adventures at the lake, at the pool, at the beach and in the Caribbean were never far away when Colleen and Gilbert were around. The love of travel and adventure is the gift she leaves to them. A memorial service is planned at the Price Senior Center in San Marcos at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 28. In lieu of flowers, friends may make a memorial gift to Heifer International. Online guest book available at www.goodnightandsnell.com.