May 20, 1966 - June 1, 2014

She kept smiling; she never wavered

In most families, after the patriarch and the matriarch have passed on, there is one shining beacon to bring everyone home again, especially around the holidays. The one family member determined to keep the home fires burning. To keep the hearth warm and inviting, to remind the other family members of holidays gone by.

For the Schweska family, that was Coleen.

With her bright blue “Frank Sinatra” eyes and ever-present smile, she embodied the spirit of Christmas that all of the 10 other children had enjoyed in their younger years. She was the youngest of the 11 and was the glue that held the family together after the once fantastic parties at 701 grew silent. Because she was the youngest, she had the incredible advantage of being the baby to the family and the cool aunt to all of her nieces and nephews.

She had worked for the City of Springfield before she became ill and everyone who met her knew they had just met someone special. There never seemed to be a rain cloud in her world of sunshine and love.

Even when the cancer came, she kept smiling. Even when it kept coming back, she never wavered. She was an inspiration to anyone who had the great fortune to cross her path in life. Right up to the very end, she kept that sweet smile on her face, hiding the pain that she was enduring.

This will be the first Christmas for the family without Aunt “Leenie” and it will not be the same. The hearth won’t be as warm and the lights won’t shine quite as bright. Christmas itself for the entire Schweska clan will never be the same.

– Topaz Gunderson-Schweska, family