Wesley Colgan Jr.

Wesley Colgan Jr. born 05/10/1928 in Santa Rosa, CA

A third generation Californian, Wes graduated from Santa Rosa High School class of 1946. Arriving as a walk-on, he earned a scholarship and the spot at first base for Saint Mary's College Gaels until he graduated in 1950 with a BA in education. Wes then returned to Santa Rosa to begin his career in education at Wright Elementary School. He earned a master's degree in education from San Francisco State in 1957. In all, Wes spent 36 years as a teacher, coach, and administrator for the Santa Rosa city school district. As a side job Wes and his wife Peggy ran the Montessori Elementary School of Santa Rosa from the mid 70's through the late 80's. In his spare time, he taught driver education certificate courses at Sonoma State and University of Nevada Las Vegas and spent a year with the California State Department of Education before retiring in 1986.

Wes joined the Native Sons of the Golden West fraternal organization at the age of 18 and remained an active member of Santa Rosa parlor #28. After a failed attempt at retirement in 1986, Wes was elected and served as the Grand Secretary for the organization and ran their office in San Francisco for several years.

Wes loved spending time with his family. A cribbage board was never far away during holidays and summer family gatherings. Wes taught several generations of Colgans and their friends how to play. Some of them even got good enough to beat him, but it was rare!

After his second retirement, Wes spent many, many hours with his hobbies. Whether traveling, golfing, or running G gauge model trains in the garden with his grandchildren, he was always busy doing something. Wes developed a passion for building and painting wooden puzzles, toy cars, and trucks. He especially enjoyed working in the wood shop with his great grandchildren. His toys have been sent all over the world, including daycare programs in New Zealand, a hospital in Nepal, and conflict areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 3000 toys were donated to schools in Northern California and across the country for use in their kindergarten and pre-K classes. Thousands more have been distributed to charities that serve under privileged children, crisis shelters, orphanages, and daycare centers.

Wes passed away after a brief illness on 03/16/2026.

He was preceded in death by his wife Peggy Colgan and his sons Greg Colgan and Chris Colgan. He is survived by his daughters Teresa Colgan (John) and Jennifer Waud (Steve), sons Tim Colgan (Beth) and Wes Colgan III (Erin) and daughter-in-law Wendy Colgan (Chris), seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.

Burial will be private. Donations in his memory may be made to the Native Sons of the Golden West Cleft Palate Fund: https://nsgw.org/about-us/charitable-endeavors/