Colleen Wilson

May 27, 1955 -

Nov 17, 2025

Colleen was born on May 27, 1955, in Great Falls, Mont., to Francis Joseph Burns and Guinevere Maude Lewis. She passed peacefully at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska, on Nov. 17, 2025, of natural causes.

Colleen came to Anchorage in 1973 and never moved away. She loved Alaska and her career at Northern Lights Fred Meyer, where she worked for nearly 40 years. The highlight of her career was managing the lumber department, where she enjoyed her customers and coworkers for many happy years, and made many lifelong friendships.

Colleen participated in organized roadside cleanups, and also earned many customer service awards at Fred Meyer, called "Q cards."

Her hobbies included planting many flowers each May, reading scary books by Steven King and Dean Koontz, and music. Her favorite bands were The Moody Blues and Frank Zappa. Her favorite comedians were George Carlin and Robin Williams.

Colleen Wilson was an unusually sweet soul. She accepted and loved everyone and had no enemies, and was a true flower child in many ways. Her health declined in her final years and she became housebound. She wasn't active on social media, so she became increasingly isolated, but enjoyed watching tv. Colleen was preceded in death by her parents; and adopted brother, Tim Burns. She is survived by her grieving partner, Jim Long of Anchorage; and sister, Kathleen Hill of West Jordan, Utah. Her ashes will be scattered from Homer Spit sometime in summer.

RIP Colleen, and thank you for making the world a better place! We miss you so much!