Colleene Kay Walling

Colleene Walling loved taking adventures.

She enjoyed countless road trips and tourist traps to see the world’s biggest this or the world’s smallest that. She took most of those adventures with her beloved family, who were her very heart and soul.

That heart and soul surrounded her as she took one last adventure, passing peacefully in the early hours of August 26, 2021. She was 74.

On top of taking trips, she also loved collecting hearts. Strangers were her friends, friends were family. If you met her, you became part of her tribe and she immediately became your biggest fan. She was the type of person who always saw the bright side in everything. The type of person who would cut the mold off the cheese and savor the rest. In some ways, it was the mantra that guided her life.

That life began on May 25, 1947 when she was born to Robert and Daphen Burleson of Flint. She graduated from Ainsworth High School in 1965 and met her husband, Daniel Curtis Walling while camping in Traverse City. It was their first adventure together.

Colleene and Dan married in 1967 and would settle in Flushing and then Clio where they raised five children. As a mother she was adored. Always providing the sort of love, advice, and comfort that would immediately make everything better.

But it was her role as grandmother where she really shined. She and Dan moved to Florida in 1996 to be near their first grandkids, but would return to Michigan in 2006 to be near even more. To her grandchildren she was a teacher, a babysitter, a boo-boo kisser, and everything in between. Grandma Colleene was the job title she was most proud of, but she also answered to Grandma “Daisy.” Cause when your grandson names you after his favorite Mickey Mouse character, you just smile and go with it for the next 12 years. She attended more school plays, pageants, and fairs than most teachers. And she loved every second of it.

She was also tough as hell. She worked multiple jobs to help support their family and made a career in several roles in the business world. She wasn’t afraid to tell you what you needed to hear, especially when you didn’t want to hear it. She would instill that toughness in her children as they helped her care for Dan after he suffered a stroke on their 52nd wedding anniversary in November of 2019. They took turns helping care for him for months – a pure example of the love they all shared. Dan preceded Colleene in death when he passed away on New Year’s Day of this year.

She wasn’t without her quirks though. She didn’t always know how Facebook worked and her fancy Ring Doorbell was the cause of much laughter and confusion. She watched a little too much CNN and then gave that up in favor of binge watching episodes of “Naked and Afraid.”

She had a knack for offering everyone strawberry shortcake even after you told her you didn’t really like it that much. She kept manuals to appliances no one keeps manuals for and her diet consisted mostly of Snickers bars and fully-leaded Coca Cola. In her final years, her favorite hobby was being chilly. Colleene is survived by her daughters, Michaele Walling; Susannah Marx (Dallas); Sarah Venable (Charles); Amanda Wolverton (Jason) and son, Donald Walling (Dawn). She was “Grandma Colleene” to Chris, Cody, Steven, Allen, Daphen, Mason, Grace, Isaac, Lucas, Bethany, Jessica, Nicole, and DJ; She was “Grandma Daisy” to Jace and Emma and great-grandma to Isla, Jesse, and Hailey. She is also survived by her brother Paul (Kathleen) Burleson of Cross River, NY; mother-in-law Margaret Mattson; sisters-in-law Janet Walling and Frann Parker; and brother-in-law, Michael Walling (Judy), all of Flushing. She held a special place in her heart for her dinner buddy Brian Martin and great friends, Ed and Carol Nerychel of Cedar, MI; as well as many nieces, nephews, friends, co-workers, and campers.

On Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021 we will be celebrating Colleene’s beautiful life at The Pine Tree Barn, located at 8412 W. Mt. Morris Road, Flushing, Michigan 48433.

Please join with Family and Friends for a time of visitation and remembrance from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. followed by a life celebration service and dinner. This will be a causal event, come as you are, at any time you can stop by.
We will also be holding a burial service on Monday, Sept. 27 at 9 a.m. at Great Lakes National Cemetery, 4200 Belford Rd., Holly, MI 48442.

In lieu of flowers, Colleene’s family is asking you to gather all the people who hold special places in your heart and go take them on an adventure they’ll never forget.